Baba Dunja's Last Love - Bronsky, Alina

Translated from the German by Tim Mohr; Clean, tight, unmarked; absolute minimal wear; appears unread; Government warnings about radiation levels in her hometown in the Ukraine be damned! Baba Dunja is going home. And one by one her former neighbours decide to join her. With strangely misshapen forest fruits to spare and the town largely to themselves, they have pretty much everything they need to live out their remaining years at home and in peace. The terminally ill Petrow passes the time reading love poems in his hammock; Marja takes up with the almost 100-year-old Sidorow; Baba Dunja whiles away her days writing letters to the granddaughter she has never met. Life is beautiful. Or at least tolerable. That is until one day a stranger turns up in the village with a young girl who is clearly being used as a pawn in some vindictive game. A touching story about might versus right, and about the wisdom and equanimity of old age. At its centre is a unique woman and an unlikely heroine, Baba Dunja, who, late in life, finds her version of paradise.
Near Fine
Soft cover
Europa Editions
2016
New York, NY