a nutshell: written in 1980, this is a fragmentary & flashback-filled depiction of a troubled family’s life in socialist Belgrade through the eyes of young bohemian Lida
a line: “It was so imbecilic and without imagination, like when someone unexpectedly gives you a Maltese terrier”
an image: the accompanying notes to the book in fact contain the image that most stuck with me – on the novel as an acid bath, stripping away façades or patina, carrying excrutiating truths and power and loss
a thought: this translation went to press one year into the #MeToo movement, 38 years after Jovanović wrote the novel, and it’s stark how much sexual harassment and assault is contained within the novel; the fight-back has been a long time coming
a fact: this novel features the first detailed exploration of a sexual relationship between two women in Serbian literature
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