2.5
A Girl in Exile
ByPublisher Description
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
“Erotic, paranoiac and lightly fantastical.” —The Wall Street Journal
“At a time when parts of the world are indulging nostalgia for communism, Kadare’s novel confronts the infuriating impossibility of art in an autocratic, anti–individualist system.” —The Washington Post
During the bureaucratic machinery of Albania’s 1945–1991 dictatorship, playwright Rudian Stefa is called in for questioning by the Party Committee. A girl—Linda B.—has been found dead, with a signed copy of his latest book in her possession.
He soon learns that Linda’s family, considered suspect, was exiled to a small town far from the capital. Under the influence of a paranoid regime, Rudian finds himself swept along on a surreal quest to discover what really happened to Linda B.
“Ismail Kadare's readers are astonished every year when the Nobel committee overlooks him. . . . A Girl in Exile, published in Albanian in 2009, may rekindle the worldwide hopes.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A Girl in Exile confirms Kadare to be the best writer at work today who remembers—almost aggressively so, refusing to forget—European totalitarianism.” —The New Republic
“Erotic, paranoiac and lightly fantastical.” —The Wall Street Journal
“At a time when parts of the world are indulging nostalgia for communism, Kadare’s novel confronts the infuriating impossibility of art in an autocratic, anti–individualist system.” —The Washington Post
During the bureaucratic machinery of Albania’s 1945–1991 dictatorship, playwright Rudian Stefa is called in for questioning by the Party Committee. A girl—Linda B.—has been found dead, with a signed copy of his latest book in her possession.
He soon learns that Linda’s family, considered suspect, was exiled to a small town far from the capital. Under the influence of a paranoid regime, Rudian finds himself swept along on a surreal quest to discover what really happened to Linda B.
“Ismail Kadare's readers are astonished every year when the Nobel committee overlooks him. . . . A Girl in Exile, published in Albanian in 2009, may rekindle the worldwide hopes.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A Girl in Exile confirms Kadare to be the best writer at work today who remembers—almost aggressively so, refusing to forget—European totalitarianism.” —The New Republic
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesA Girl in Exile Reviews
2.5
“I think I missed a lot in this book. But, I thought that Kadare’s ability to write paranoia and really immerse the reader into that feeling was great. However, I despised the characterization and the insufferable male playwright who all the girls are just soooo in love with trope made this difficult to get through.”
“Important story to tell”
“A very strange and disturbing story. A warning against the madness that is caused by the paranoia and suspicion of life under a controlling Authoritarian regime. Historical fiction based in Albania in the 1980s - in the last few years of the Dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.
A suicide triggers an investigation into everyone who knew the girl - leading to interviews that trigger deep paranoia in our main character who is already suffering from paranoia and close to a mental break.
Cleverly written, captivating storytelling. Deserves mention alongside books like 1984 and Farenheit 451.”
“Glad I finished it”
About Ismail Kadare
Ismail Kadare is Albania's best–known novelist and poet. Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. He was awarded the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005, the Jerusalem Prize in 2015, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2020.
John Hodgson studied at Cambridge and Newcastle and has taught at the universities of Prishtina and Tirana. This is the sixth book by Ismail Kadare that he has translated.
John Hodgson studied at Cambridge and Newcastle and has taught at the universities of Prishtina and Tirana. This is the sixth book by Ismail Kadare that he has translated.
Other books by Ismail Kadare
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