Version 1.0.0
2009 Longlist

Skylark Farm

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

After forty years in Venice, Yerwant is planning a long-awaited reunion with his family at their homestead in the Anatolian hills of Turkey. But as joyful preparations begin, Italy enters the Great War and closes its borders. At the same time, in Turkey, the Young Turks, determined to rid their nation of minorities, force his family on a brutal march of hunger and humiliation. We follow Yerwant’s relatives as they strain to stay alive and as four children set out on a daring course to reach Yerwant—and safety—in Italy.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Antonia
Arslan

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Geoffery
Block

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

Winner of the 2004 Italian Campiello prize, it is a moving debut novel inspired by the author’s own family and their experiences of the Armenian genocide. Strong female characters and elegant prose suggest to nominate it for the Prize. The author is a well known university teacher and writer of literary essays. A film loosely based on the novel was directed by Taviani brothers.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
Italy
Original Language
Italian
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
Translator
Geoffery Block

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