Eighth Life (for Brilka)

Born in Tbilisi in 1983, Nino Haratischwili is an award-winning novelist, playwright, and theatre director. She is among the most acclaimed and widely-read authors of contemporary German literature. Her third novel, The Eighth Life (for Brilka), was translated into thirty languages and became an international bestseller. It won the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, the Anna Seghers Prize, and the Bertolt Brecht Prize, and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020. The Lack of Light is her most recent novel. Haratischwili lives in Berlin.

“Something rather extraordinary happened. The world fell away and I fell, wholly, happily, into the book… My breath caught in my throat, tears nestled in my lashes… devastatingly brilliant.” — New York Times Book Review“This multigenerational epic . . . offers not only a critique of Soviet and Russian imperial ambitions but a necessary reappraisal of Georgian history.” — The New Yorker“An exceptional, deeply evocative saga of an elite Georgian family as they endure the 20th century’s political upheavals, from before the Bolshevik Revolution through the post-Soviet era. . . . In heartfelt prose, Haratischwili seamlessly weaves the political upheaval around the characters into the love and loss in their lives. Haratischwili’s epic portrait of a close-knit family doubles as a stunning tribute to the power of resilience.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Nino Haratischwili's elegant epic… is a triumph of both authorship and painstaking translation . . . The Eighth Life is an unforgettable love letter to Georgia and the Caucasus, to lives led and to come, and to writing itself.” — The Economist“A lavish banquet of family stories that can, for all their sorrows, be devoured with gluttonous delight. Nino Haratischwili’s characters . . . come to exuberant life. Her huge novel . . . shows a double face, its crushing pain and loss nonetheless conveyed with an artful storyteller’s sheer joy in her craft.” — Financial Times“This novel has generated substantial industry buzz and international critical praise. Both are justified… The Eighth Life―the story of a family, a country, a century―is an imaginative, expansive, and important read.” — Booklist (starred review)“If it’s a family saga you’re seeking, look no further than this grand tale… The author gracefully interweaves the historical backdrop of her novel with the lives of her characters, thus adding depth to her story. Heartily recommended.” — Library Journal (starred review)“This is a long, rewarding novel . . . It makes for an engrossing book. Haratischwili has created a fascinating cast (and it’s easy to imagine it as a television series) whose lives illuminate some of the greatest events of the 20th century.” — Irish Times“Elegant… it demonstrates a technical mastery, impressively sustained… The Eighth Life is more than a family saga: it is an ode, a lamentation, a monument―to Georgia, its people, its past and future.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)“The Eighth Life is capacious, voluble, urgent, readable, translated heroically and sparklingly by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin.” — Telegraph“A harrowing, heartening and utterly engrossing epic novel . . . astonishing. . . . A subtle and compelling translation by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin.” — The Guardian