"Zagreb''s noirish underbelly comes from a new nation familiar with both war and war crimes. Mr. Sršen''s handpicked selections are anything but ordinary." —New York Journal of Books Eastern European history is filled with noir-ish and harrowing tales, and Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, certainly has its fill. Layers of trauma from its war years, soccer hooliganism, and a shadowy Balkan underground all contribute to the city''s transient and inconstant character. Editor Ivan Sršen has curated a diverse, powerful, and dramatic group of stories that offer tremendous insight into the perspectives of contemporary Croatians. Zagreb Noir features translated stories by: Ivan Vidić, Josip Novakovich, Andrea Žigić-Dolenec, Robert Perišić, Mima Simić, Pero Kvesić, Nada Gašić, Zoran Pilić, Ružica Gašperov, Darko Milošić, Nora Verde, Ivan Sršen, Neven Ušumović, and Darko Macan. "Zagreb, Croatia—its culture and its touchstones—will be terra incognita for many U.S. readers . . . Notable is Nora Verde''s ''She-Warrior,'' in which a young woman''s carefully planned anarchist activities are smacked down by a triple helping of reality." —Publishers Weekly "The stories shed light on a sickness that stirs within society''s boundaries. Readers will easily glean that this sickness is not exclusive to Zagreb. Sršen reveals the ugly truth about human nature that burrows under the surface in war-torn countries." —The Examiner (San Francisco)
Harmattanis a novel about a young Nigerian emigrant Uhunoma who, after a couple of years spent strayed across the Old Continent in search of a better life, ends up in a German prison somewhere in Bavaria for not having valid documents required for stayingin the territory of the EU. In prison, she meets women from around the world, each carrying their own burden of remorse, bitterness and frustration with being imprisoned.