Bolla
ABOUT
THE BOOK
It is April, 1995. Kosovo is a country on the cusp of a dreadful war. Arsim is twenty-two, newly married, cautious – an Albanian trying to keep his head down and finish his studies in an atmosphere of creeping threat. Until he encounters Milos, a Serb, and begins a life in secret. Bolla is the story of what happens when passion and history collide – when a relationship, already forbidden and laced with danger, is ripped apart by war and migration, separated by nations and fate. What happens when you are forced to live a life that is not yours, so far from your desires? Can the human remain?
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR David
Hackston
David Hackston is a British translator of Finnish and Swedish literature and drama. Notable publications include Laura Lindstedt’s My Friend Natalia, Petra Rautiainen’s WWII thriller Land of Snow and Ashes, and Kari Hukkila’s One Thousand and One. In 2020 he was awarded the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize for his translation of Pajtim Statovci’s Crossing.
David Hackston is a British translator of Finnish and Swedish literature and drama. Notable publications include Laura Lindstedt’s My Friend Natalia, Petra Rautiainen’s WWII thriller Land of Snow and Ashes, and Kari Hukkila’s One Thousand and One. In 2020 he was awarded the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize for his translation of Pajtim Statovci’s Crossing.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Albanian protagonist, Arsim, is a brilliant student and just married to his young wife. He’s also in love with a person who is wrong for him in two ways: Miloš is a man and a Serb. Violence takes Arsim over and he get punished both physically, mentally and socially.
Bolla is a phenomenal literal study of love, loneliness, passion and violence. It pictures the horrors of war and living a secret life. – Helsinki City Library, Finland.