ABOUT
THE BOOK

Translated from the Finnish by David Hackston

2021 Longlist

Bujar’s world is collapsing. His father is dying and his homeland, Albania, bristles with hunger and unrest. When his fearless friend Agim is discovered wearing his mother’s red dress and beaten with his father’s belt, he persuades Bujar that there is no place for them in their country. Desperate for a chance to shape their own lives, they flee. This is the beginning of a journey across cities, borders and identities, from the bazaars of Tirana to the monuments of Rome and the drag bars of New York. It is also a search through shifting gender and social personae, for acceptance and love. But faced with marginalization at home and only precarious means of escape and survival, what chance do the young pair have of forging a new life? Pursued by memories of home and echoes of folk tales, they risk losing themselves in the struggle to leave their pasts behind.

About the Author

Pajtim Statovci (b. 1990) is a Finnish-Kosovan novelist. He moved from Kosovo to Finland with his family when he was two years old. He is currently a Ph.D candidate at the University of Helsinki. His first novel, My Cat Yugoslavia, also published by Pushkin Press, won the prestigious Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize. Crossing won the Toisinkoinen Literature Prize in 2016 and, Statovci also won the 2018 Helsinki Writer of the Year Award.

David Hackston is a British translator of Finnish and Swedish literature and drama. He graduated from University College London with a degree in Scandinavian Studies and now lives in Helsinki where he works as a freelance translator. Notable recent publications include the Anna Fekete trilogy by Kati Hiekkapelto, Katja Kettu’s wartime epic The Midwife, four novels by ‘Helsinki noir’ author Antti Tuomainen, and Pajtim Statovci’s enigmatic My Cat Yugoslavia and Crossing. His drama translations include three plays by Heini Junkkaala, most recently Play it, Billy! (2012) about the life and times of jazz pianist Billy Tipton.

Librarian’s Comments

This second novel by the award-winning Finnish-Kosovan writer Pajtim Statovci is a masterfully written, emotionally forceful and gripping story about identities, a journey through cities and genders in search of love and belonging. It is a story that will stay with you long after you close the last page of the book. Helsinki City Library, Finland