The Doll
From 'a novelist of dazzling mastery' (Independent) and the winner of the first ever Man Booker International Prize- a novel about creative origin and aspiration, inspired by the author's own mother and his childhood in Albania Young Ismail's world centres around his mother. Naive and fragile as a paper doll, she is an unlikely presence in her husband's imposing house, with its hidden rooms and infamous dungeon. Yet despite her youthful nature, she is not without her own enigmas. Most of all, she fears that her intellectual, radical son will exchange her for a superior mother when he becomes a famous writer. From the winner of the first ever Man Booker International Prize, this is a disarming story of home and creative ambition, of personal and political freedom. Rooted in the author's own childhood in Albania, it is dedicated to the memory of his mother. 'A master storyteller' John Carey 'Laconic, sinister and drily funny' Spectator
Ismail Kadare (1936-2024) 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, the Park Kyong-ni Prize in 2019 and the Neustadt Prize in 2020.
Author: Ismail Kadare
Format: Paperback, 176 pages, 128mm x 198mm, 131 g
Published: 2021, Vintage Publishing, United Kingdom
Genre: General & Literary Fiction
From 'a novelist of dazzling mastery' (Independent) and the winner of the first ever Man Booker International Prize- a novel about creative origin and aspiration, inspired by the author's own mother and his childhood in Albania Young Ismail's world centres around his mother. Naive and fragile as a paper doll, she is an unlikely presence in her husband's imposing house, with its hidden rooms and infamous dungeon. Yet despite her youthful nature, she is not without her own enigmas. Most of all, she fears that her intellectual, radical son will exchange her for a superior mother when he becomes a famous writer. From the winner of the first ever Man Booker International Prize, this is a disarming story of home and creative ambition, of personal and political freedom. Rooted in the author's own childhood in Albania, it is dedicated to the memory of his mother. 'A master storyteller' John Carey 'Laconic, sinister and drily funny' Spectator
Ismail Kadare (1936-2024) 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, the Park Kyong-ni Prize in 2019 and the Neustadt Prize in 2020.