Peirene Press Ltd – serie

LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2026High in the Accursed Mountains, in a village ruled by the ancient laws of the Kanun, Bekija escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a sworn virgin, renouncing her womanhood to live as a man. Her decision sets off a brutal chain of events, destroying her family and separating her from the one she loves the most. Years later, as Bekija - now Matija - tells their story to a visiting journalist, long-buried truths come to light, along with the realization of all that might have been.

New Year’s Eve. The last day of the last year of human existence. A high-ranking minister criss-crosses the city with blood on his hands, a dying necrophile attempts to go clean before God, and a traumatized nurse is pressured into keeping a powerful secret. With undisguised glee, a nameless narrator unravels these twisted tales of moral turmoil, all of which are brought to an abrupt close by a cataclysmic collision of time and space. What will remain on New Year’s Day? In a cabin in the Alps, the last people on earth – a musicologist and her young daughter – search for a five-hundred-year-old musical score that might explain the catastrophe. Outside the cabin, hidden in shadow, a sinister figure waits for them to accept their fate.With dark humour and remorselessness reminiscent of Thomas Bernhard and Pier Paolo Pasolini, Anomaly is an exhilarating, provocative carnival of a novel, from one of Europe’s most distinctive literary voices.

For thirty years, Huseyin has worked in Germany, taking every extra shift and carefully saving, even as he provides for his wife and their four children. Finally, he has set aside enough to buy an apartment back in Istanbul - a new centre for the family and a place for him to retire. But just as this future is in reach, Huseyin's tired heart gives up. His family rush to him, travelling from Germany by plane and car, each of his children conflicted as they process their relationship with their parents and each other. Reminiscent of Bernardine Evaristo or Zadie Smith, Djinns portrays a family at the end of the 20th century in all its complexity - full of secrets, questions, silence and love.

A RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME - WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2023 - A woman approaching the 'invisible years' of middle age abandons her failing writing career to retrain as a chiropodist in the suburb of Marzahn, once the GDR's largest prefabricated housing estate, on the outskirts of Berlin. From her intimate vantage point at the foot of the clinic chair, she keenly observes her clients and co-workers, delving into their personal histories with all their quirks and vulnerabilities. Each story stands alone as a beautifully crafted vignette, told with humour and poignancy; together they form a nuanced and tender portrait of a community. Part memoir, part collective history, Katja Oskamp's love letter to the inhabitants of Marzahn is a stunning reflection on life's progression and our ability to forge connections in the unlikeliest of places.

Petra and Johannes seem made for one another. A lawyer and a doctor. Well brought up, ambitious. Their friends Julia and Axel are different - from them, and from each other. Julia fights for her convictions. Axel manoeuvres his way to political power. Desire moves like an undertow between them all, dangerous and destabilising. Inconvenient truths are buried, but can only stay that way for so long. Meanwhile, the country around them changes. Laws tighten. Freedoms are curtailed. People begin to disappear. The personal and the political collide. It is easier, at first, to look away than to let the facts in. Until they arrive at the door.'What a writer Agnes Lidbeck is - bold, blisteringly intelligent, deliciously playful.'- Katie Kitamura, author of Audition and Intimacies

Half Swimmer. A German term for one who has recently learnt to swim but hasn’t yet mastered the technique.Growing up in 1980s East Germany, as the daughter of an army officer and a teacher, Tanja seems set up to become a model citizen of the German Democratic Republic. Except she has other ideas. And so, it turns out, does the course of history. This is a collection of memories from one life, following a girl as she attempts to forge her own identity under the social pressures of both the GDR, and the capitalism of a unified Germany.‘Katja Oskamp knows how to capture the essence of people beautifully. They really come to life in her portraits.’ – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany

Hinrich takes his existence at face value. His wife, on the other hand, has always been more interested in the after-life. Or so it seemed. When she dies of a stroke, Hinrich goes through her papers, only to discover a totally different perspective on their marriage. Thus commences a dazzling intellectual game of shifting realities. ------- Why Peirene chose to publish this book: 'This novella deals with the weighty subjects of marriage and death in an impressively light manner. Shifting realities evolve with a beautiful sense of irony and wit. It is a tone that allows us to reflect - without judgment - on misunderstandings, contradictory perceptions and the transience of life.' Meike Ziervogel, Publisher

A spellbinding short story collection by one of Austria's most critically acclaimed authors. A man becomes obsessed with observing his neighbours. A large family gathers for Christmas only to wait for the one member who never turns up. An old woman lures a man into her house where he finds dolls resembling himself as a boy. Mesmerizing and haunting stories about loss of identity in the modern world. ------- Why Peirene chose to publish this book: 'I love Kafka and here we have a Kafkaesque sense of alienation - not to mention narrative experiments galore! Outwardly normal events slip into drama before they tip into horror. These oblique tales exert a fascinating hold over the reader.' Meike Ziervogel, Publisher

Finland, 1809. Henrik and Erik are brothers who fought on opposite sides in the war between Sweden and Russia. With peace declared, they both return to their snowed-in farm. But who is the master? Sexual tensions, old grudges, family secrets: all come to a head in this dark and gripping saga. ------- Why Peirene chose to publish this book: 'This is a historical novel in miniature form. It deals in dark passions and delivers as many twists as a 500-page epic. And if that were not enough, each character speaks in a distinct voice and expresses a unique take on reality. I'm thrilled to be publishing a book that is as Finnish as a forest in winter - but that resembles a work from the American South: William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.' Meike Ziervogel, Publisher

Bess and Halland live in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else. When Halland is found murdered in the main square the police encounter only riddles. For Bess bereavement marks the start of a journey that leads her to a reassessment of first friends, then family. ------- Why Peirene chose to publish this book: 'If you like crime you won't be disappointed. The book has all the right ingredients. A murder, a gun, an inspector, suspense. But the story strays far beyond the whodunit norm. In beautifully stark language Pia Juul manages to chart the phases of bereavement. PS Don't skip the quotes.' Meike Ziervogel, Publisher

A little girl lives happily with her mother in war-torn Paris. She has never met her father, a prisoner of war in Germany. But then he returns and her mother switches her devotion to her husband. The girl realizes that she must win over her father to recover her position in the family. She confides a secret that will change their lives. ----- Why Peirene chose to publish this book: 'This is a poetic story about a girl's love for her father. Told from the girl's perspective, but with the clarity of an adult's mind, we experience her desire to be noticed by the first man in her life. A rare examination of the bonds and boundaries between father and daughter.' Meike Ziervogel, Publisher

An extraordinary piece of international survival literature, joining the likes of Primo Levi and Anne Frank.In 1941, 14-year-old Dalia and her family are deported from their native Lithuania to a labour camp in Siberia. As the strongest member of her family she submits to twelve hours a day of manual labour. At the age of 21, she escapes the gulag and returns to Lithuania. She writes her memories on scraps of paper and buries them in the garden, fearing they might be discovered by the KGB. They are not found until 1991, four years after her death.This is the story Dalia buried. The immediacy of her writing bears witness not only to the suffering she endured but also the hope that sustained her. It is a Lithuanian tale that, like its author, beats the odds to survive.'There is only one word to describe this book: Extraordinary. It blew me away when I first read it in German translation. Dalia's account goes far beyond a memoir. This is an outstanding piece of literature which should be read by anyone who wishes to understand the Soviet repression.' Meike Ziervogel, Peirene Press Publisher

In this story we hear the voices of an Icelandic fishing village. On a summer's day a young woman in a polka-dot dress cycles down the main street. Her name is Kata and she is the village choir conductor. As she passes, we glimpse the members of the village: a priest with a gambling habit, an old brother and sister who have not talked for years, and a sea captain who has lost his son. But perhaps the most interesting story of all belongs to the young woman on the bicycle. Why is she reticent to talk about her past?'Reading this book was like embarking on a gentle journey - with music in my ears and wind in my hair. Yes, there is some darkness in the tales, and not every character is happy. But the story is told with such empathy that I couldn't help but smile, and forgive the flaws that make us human.' Meike Ziervogel, Peirene Press Publisher

A train stops on the tracks in the middle of the night and a lone woman steps out, following a call from deep in the forest.In these six richly imagined short stories, Andrea Lundgren explores a liminal space where the town meets the wilderness and human consciousness meets something more animalistic. From foxes to blue whales to angels, the creatures that roam through these stories spark a desire for something more in their human counterparts: a longing for transformation. Whether dealing withfamilial tensions, romantic troubles, or a crisis of faith, their human anguish is explored with psychological depth and poetic insight in the earthy, evocative world of Lundgren’s northern borderlands.

In San Agustín de Tango, you can never be sure what’s waiting around the corner. Over the course of a single day – the day before today – the hero of this novel and his adored wife embark on a journey through the absurd and the surreal, encountering a choir of monkeys and a carnivorous ostrich, travelling from the studio of an artist obsessed with the colour green to the waistcoat pocket of a pot-bellied man. All the while, the tolling of the bell in the city square pushes their whirlwind adventure towards its fateful conclusion.

Marcelino lives alone on his parents' farm, set deep in the beautiful but impoverished countryside of northern Spain. It's the place where he grew up, the place where he doted on his beloved baby brother and protected his mother from his father's drunken rages. But when Marcelino's brother tricks him out of his house and land, a moment of anger sparks a chain of events that can't be reversed. Marcelino flees to the wild peaks of rural Asturias, becoming a cult hero as he evades authorities. Into this unconventional crime story, Astur weaves fables about the sun and the moon, tales of death and love, and reveals a community and a way of life that may soon be lost. Of Saints and Miracles is a sensuous and poetic portrayal of an outcast's struggle to survive in a changing world, and a seamless blend of the tragic and the majestic.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with liquid gold, to highlight and celebrate an object's past. In this powerful and personal novella, Senka Maric uses the concept of kintsugi to interrogate ideas of illness, survival and recovery.Two months after her husband packs his bags and leaves the family home, the narrator finds a lump in her armpit. It's a discovery she's been dreading ever since her mother's breast cancer diagnosis sixteen years earlier, and one that will change her body forever. Through diagnosis, chemotherapy, and surgery, the narrator returns to those moments of her girlhood when she learnt to be ashamed of her sexuality and estranged from her body - the same body that now threatens to fall apart during her illness. Laced with a drive for life, sensuality and pleasure, Body Kintsugi is an intimate and optimistic book about a woman's relationship with her body as it breaks and is put back together.

A young PhD student believes she has uncovered the first professional female artist in Britain. It’s a discovery that could transform her career and reputation. However, in her haste to break new ground, she has made a simple mistake whichthreatens everything –and she won’t acknowledge her error until it’s far too late. As she goes to ever greater lengths to protecther work from the truth, she begins to lose her grip on her thesis, her life and ultimately her sanity. History. A Mess. is a remarkable exploration of intellectual integrity and denial, and a gripping portrait of academic ambition.

‘A subtle, singular novel of profound insight, delivered in a voice so hilarious, intimate and frank, it was as if I suddenly had a zany French genius for my best friend. I enjoyed this book so much it felt illicit.’ ISOBEL WOHL, AUTHOR OF COLD NEW CLIMATE --- This is the story of an affair, or two. The narrator of As The Eagle Flies has been with Igor for seven years, and has two children with him - when she meets Joseph. Before long, they are deeply entangled with each other, and choices have to be made between the life she knows with Igor and this unpredictable, and potentially destructive, affair. She is willing to start again with Joseph, but at what cost? And does he feel the same way? With a sharp wit, and a refreshing honesty, she charts the course of both of these relationships, exploring their highs and lows over a decade. Using literature, psychology, and popular culture to get to the heart of questions about love, family and identity, this is a book about getting lost in other people, and the lengths we go to to find ourselves again.

The Alencar Costa e Oliveira family talk to each other through inside jokes, often saying the opposite of what they mean, or repeating the same sentence until it acquires new meaning. But they also have a dark inheritance: every member of the family has died of the same cause – acute melancholy.From the author of The Love of Singular Men comes a family saga like no other. Equal parts postmodern, tender and satirical, Glória follows three brothers – Benjamin, Daniel and Abel – as they do battle with online forums, religious hysteria, the art world of Rio de Janeiro, ants, aunts, love, humiliation and a stammering God.

A ground-breaking surgical intervention promises to free people from psychological disorders. The procedure is painless, the risks are minimal, and patients are calmer and more compliant after healing. The doctor promises them a new and productive life, free from suffering - can it be so simple?Meret is a nurse on the surgical ward. The hospital is her home, and her uniform is her identity. She supports her patients through their interventions and is proud to be a part of the solution. But when she falls in love with another nurse, she crosses an invisible boundary and her certainty in the system begins to crumble.With echoes of Kazuo Ishiguro and Margaret Atwood, this is the story of a world of rigid hierarchies and a love with its own rules.

In a small seaside town on the French coast lives Uncle. He shares his house with his niece and nephew, who look afterhim when they could be doing something - anything - else. A disabled veteran with odd habits, Uncle is prone to drinking,hoarding and gorging, not to mention the occasional excursion down into the plumbing, where he might disappear for days ata time. As the world begins to shut down, Uncle and his niece are forced even closer still. She starts to watch his every move- every bathroom break he takes, every pill he swallows - and finds herself relying on this man, her only companion.

A claustrophobic story of desire and small town unease in the vein of Dogville or Coetzee’s Disgrace.On the heels of a cryptic mistake, Nat arrives in the rural village of La Escapa. She rents a small house from a negligent landlord, adopts a dog and begins to work on her first literary translation. But nothing in La Escapa is easy: her dog is ill-tempered and skittish, and mutual misunderstandings with her neighbours simmer below the surface. When conflict arises over repairs to her house, Nat receives an unusual offer – one that tests her sense of self and reveals her most unexpected desires. As Nat tries to understand her decision, the community of La Escapa comes together in search of a scapegoat.Now a feature film, directed by Isabel Coixet. Selected as the ‘Best Book of 2020’ by El País, La Vanguardia, El Cultural and El Correo. Shortlisted by El Mundo, Forbes, Elle, W Magazine and La Nueva España.

The country is flooding. Every day the sea claims another kilometre of land. The prime minister holds a daily press conference. Scientists try to find an explanation, without success. Sheep drown in the fields, weighed down by their waterlogged fleeces. The museums are emptied of their valuable works. Some people stay. Most leave. Once the evacuation is complete, and the rest of the world is already moving on, a climate activist, a young poet and an oceanographer voyage across the new sea. They are drawn back into the heart of a changed nation, seeking what they have lost in the deluge.

It's a rainy weekend in Bogota, and eighteen-year-old Melissa is about to graduate from school. If, that is, she can scrape together the money to pay for the printer she broke. Melissa used to break a lot of things, but after five years of living with her aunt Anahi, she has become much better at controlling her anger. Then, out of the blue and for the first time in six months, Melissa's mother calls her and invites her to spend the weekend together in their old neighbourhood. Melissa is excited to spend time with her, but nervous about returning to the scene of her troubled early adolescence. Will she make it to Monday morning without jeopardising her future - or being swallowed up by her past?

There are no secrets in this family!' proclaims Damian, the father, triumphantly. A secular idealist obsessed with morality and order, he is blind to the cracks in his home's foundations, the oppression that pervades it, and the elaborate fictions his wife and four children devise to survive it. While he quotes Gandhi and expounds on the virtues of education, charity and thrift, the children retreat into humiliated compliance or seek freedom in the most dangerous of places.Through a mosaic of interlinked tales, spanning decades, acclaimed Spanish author Sara Mesa turns her unflinching gaze to the family as institution: the ideologies that shape it, the silences that underpin it, and the authority you can never quite escape.