Book tip: The Witch of Konotop
Today, I would like to recommend a book by the Ukrainian writer Hryhoriy Kvitka-Osnovyanenko — The Witch of Konotop.
Nearly two centuries is long enough for most jokes, fears, and human failings to become hopelessly outdated. Yet every now and then, you open an old book and discover that far less has changed than you might wish. The author is less concerned with his own era than with the people who lived in it — and much of what he observes remains all too familiar today.
About the Book
First published: 1837, in the second volume of Little Russian Tales Told by Hrytsko Osnovyanenko. Moscow: Andrei Glazunov, Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages Press. (“Little Russia” is an imperial-era term for Ukraine, now considered derogatory.)
Original language: Ukrainian
Time and place: Likely the 18th century, Konotop and the surrounding area, Cossack Hetmanate
Story world: Real-world setting with supernatural elements
Narrator: An unnamed third-person narrator who occasionally addresses the reader directly
Reading difficulty: Moderate
Estimated reading time: About 2 hours and 30 minutes
What The Witch of Konotop Is About — Without Spoilers
At the heart of the story is Mykyta Ulasovych Zabryokha, the Cossack captain of Konotop — a dim-witted official who struggles with his responsibilities and relies heavily on his cunning clerk, Prokip Ryhorovych Pistryak. Zabryokha’s personal life isn’t going much better: he hopes to marry Olena Yosypivna, the daughter of a Cossack standard-bearer, but she turns down his proposal.
Meanwhile, an order arrives from Chernihiv instructing him to muster his Cossack company and set off on a military campaign. Instead of carrying out their duties, however, the local authorities become preoccupied with what they consider a far more pressing problem: a prolonged drought. Pistryak convinces the captain that witches hiding among the local women may be responsible.
And so a witch hunt begins in Konotop, where superstition, personal agendas, and bureaucratic intrigue gradually become entangled with the supernatural, as events take increasingly unexpected turns.
What to Know Before Reading
The story is set in Ukraine during the era of the Cossack Hetmanate. One of the main characters, Mykyta Zabryokha, is a sotnyk — a Cossack officer who not only commands a military unit but also serves as a local official with administrative and judicial authority.
Belief in witches and witchcraft, including their supposed ability to cause droughts and other misfortunes, was part of the popular worldview at the time. However, the novella shouldn’t be read as a precise historical reconstruction: the author freely blends the realities of Cossack-era life with folklore and supernatural elements.
My Impressions
Overall, The Witch of Konotop reads almost like a lighthearted adventure story: the plot moves at a brisk pace, the supernatural constantly rubs shoulders with everyday comedy, and the satire never slips into heavy-handed moralizing. Often, the funniest part isn’t the supernatural at all, but the way people behave — especially the local authorities, whose ignorance, self-importance, and petty self-interest the author pushes to grotesque extremes.
The characters are largely drawn as colorful, larger-than-life satirical figures, brought vividly to life by the author’s expressive language. This is especially apparent in the dialogue, rich with folk sayings, proverbs, and turns of phrase that may sound unfamiliar to modern readers.
Get Andrii Moshenskyi’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
At times, the whole affair feels like a parody of the Catholic Inquisition, suddenly transplanted into the unlikely setting of a Ukrainian Cossack town, where Christianity coexists with ancient folk beliefs and an almost pagan worldview. The result is something of a “poor man’s Inquisition”: instead of an ecclesiastical tribunal, we get a makeshift operation run by the local authorities, where the hunt for witches becomes absurd, hilarious, and just a little unsettling all at once.
Selected Quote
“And, of course, it’s like this everywhere: the more foolish the chief, the prouder he is, and know it stinks to high heaven like burning animal skins.”
Narrator
Source: Hryhoriy Kvitka-Osnovyanenko. The Witch of Konotop. Translated by Michael M. Naydan and Alla Perminova. Glagoslav Publications, 2023.
Who This Book Is For
The Witch of Konotop is a great choice for readers who enjoy absurd humor, larger-than-life characters, and offbeat stories where everyday life is intertwined with the supernatural. Don’t expect a complex psychological drama: the author clearly delights in playing with his characters and human weaknesses.
It’s also an excellent introduction to 19th-century Ukrainian literature. The novella offers a glimpse into the language, everyday life, and comic traditions of Ukrainian prose from that era, without requiring readers to commit to a lengthy, multi-volume work.
Who This Book May Not Be For
The Witch of Konotop may not appeal to readers who find archaic language, unfamiliar turns of phrase, or deliberately exaggerated characters off-putting. The 19th-century language can make for slower reading, and the grotesque humor won’t be to everyone’s taste.
Interesting Facts
- The novella was partly inspired by stories passed down through oral tradition. At the end of the work, Kvitka credits the late Panas Mesiura as the person from whom he heard this “story, or tale.” The practice of testing suspected witches by water also has historical precedents in Ukraine: documentary evidence survives, including a case involving a noblewoman named Yavorska in 1709.
- Each of the novella’s 14 chapters opens with a variation on the phrase “sad and cheerless.” This recurring refrain creates a comic contrast with the increasingly absurd events that unfold.
- In Ukrainian folklore, the distinction between a witch and a folk healer was not always clear-cut. Women believed to possess unusual knowledge or abilities could be both feared and sought out for help.
- The Witch of Konotop is one of the early works of modern Ukrainian prose fiction, and Kvitka-Osnovyanenko is widely regarded as one of its pioneers. He wrote prose in Ukrainian at a time when its status as a literary language still had to be defended. The novella is rich in colloquial speech, proverbs, and the rhythms of oral storytelling.
- Kvitka’s pen name, “Hrytsko Osnovyanenko,” comes from Osnova, an area near Kharkiv closely associated with the Kvitka family.
- The Witch of Konotop was included in PEN Ukraine’s list of 100 landmark works of Ukrainian literature.
- The figure of the Konotop witch has long been one of the town’s cultural symbols. Local tales about witches existed well before Kvitka-Osnovyanenko wrote his novella and continued to be passed down through generations. In November 2025, the tradition of telling tales about the Konotop witch was officially added to Ukraine’s National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
My Verdict
The Witch of Konotop is a fine example of a classic you can read not because you’re supposed to, but simply for the pleasure of it. Its reputation as a school reading assignment might lead you to expect something far drier and more solemn than it actually is. But the story quickly shatters that expectation: it’s lively, witty, and a far cry from the dusty, museum-piece feel of so much “required reading.”
And while the novella undoubtedly has historical and literary significance, you don’t have to approach it as an exercise in studying Ukrainian literature. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable read in its own right.
Have you read this book? Which scene felt the most vivid to you — as if you were right there, witnessing it firsthand? Share your thoughts in the comments.
More of my recommendations for good books are collected here — works worth taking a closer look at and, perhaps, returning to more than once.
