The day before the opening of the International Book Arsenal Festival, writer Evgen Ilyin presented his historical fantasy novel about Kyiv, The Key, at St. Cyril’s Church (Kyrylivska Church). The author envisions his book becoming so popular that it inspires guided tours to the locations where the novel’s events unfold—similar to how tourists explore Paris and other cities featured in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. These tours might begin at St. Cyril’s Church, where the protagonist is baptized, or at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the setting of the novel’s pivotal opening scene. In the story, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and specifically a certain door in its lower caves, serves as a gateway through time. By unlocking an old door with a key dropped by a beggar woman in the street, history student Denys is transported back to Kyiv in 1917. While the concept of time travel is not new, Ilyin’s approach makes it distinctive. He uses it as an opportunity to vividly depict the city as it was—a quiet provincial town at the time. The author avoids idealizing Kyiv or portraying it as the “center of Europe.” Instead, he focuses on the lives of ordinary residents, painting a realistic and detailed picture of markets, streets, monuments, and homes. In an interview with Vesti, Ilyin shared that his fascination with Kyiv’s history has spanned many years. For over a decade, he nurtured the idea of writing a novel about his beloved city, consulting local historians to ensure accuracy in the historical details so crucial to this genre. His book brings Kyiv to life with facts that will intrigue readers: the central streets paved with yellow cobblestones to match the buildings, or how a monument to Poltava Colonel Ivan Iskra and General Judge Vasyl Kochubey once stood at the site where a cannon now sits near the Arsenalna Metro Station. The Key doesn’t just explore 1917; it also delves into lesser-known events such as the 1961 Kurenivka tragedy, where a mudslide devastated an entire neighborhood, leaving an uncounted number of victims. In a chilling detail, the flood unearthed a cemetery, sending coffins drifting through Kurenivka and Syrets. Even after the cleanup, human remains were found for months on abandoned plots. These haunting but vivid depictions make the novel memorable. To ensure the story remains compelling as fiction, Ilyin occasionally alters historical timelines to suit the plot. For instance, the protagonist works in a newspaper office and shocks the editor-in-chief with accurate predictions of Kyiv’s immediate future—the Bolshevik occupation, the loss at the Battle of Kruty, and the execution of Tsarist officers who refused to defend the city. At first, the editor and staff dismiss Denys as a joker, but when he predicts an imminent explosion at an ammunition depot in Zvirynets, they are stunned as it happens moments later. In the novel, this event is set in late 1917, while historically it occurred in April 1918. Zvirynets, an area once home to Kyiv’s poorest residents living in shacks, has since transformed into a district of elite private residences. This contrast mirrors Ilyin’s ability to weave historical depth with modern relevance. To connect the protagonist’s present-day life with the past, Ilyin incorporates references to the 2014 Maidan Revolution. These parallels are not merely added for dramatic effect but highlight recurring patterns in Ukraine’s history—comparing the proclamation of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1917 with the Revolution of Dignity nearly a century later. In Ilyin’s narrative, revolutions are sparked by idealists but soon overtaken by pragmatists with different goals. This theme resonates in the tragic deaths depicted in the novel, whether it is a young girl succumbing to heart failure on the Maidan or the doomed students at the Battle of Kruty. Critic Mykola Milinevskiy aptly summarizes Ilyin’s work: a vivid and thought-provoking exploration of Kyiv’s past and present, merging historical accuracy with compelling storytelling.