Spring Flowers, Spring Frost

A Novel

Translated by David Bellos

In a small town at the foot of the northern highlands in Albania, a decade after the fall of the Communist regime, the harsh blood-for-blood law of the fearsome Kanun mountain folk is emerging from hibernation, like everything else that was forbidden under the fifty years of Communist rule. Mysterious happenings that are two thousand years old, two centuries old, or even just two years old reemerge in daily life. The marriage of a girl and a snake is not just a legend but a news item—a cyclical event that is as much part of the modern world as of the ancient one. Set against this Kafkaesque backdrop, a simple and sensual love story between a painter and a young woman stands out as light against dark.

With its rich and somber story of local traditions and universal themes, Spring Flowers, Spring Frost is a masterpiece belonging to Kadare’s purest classical vein.

Ismail Kadare

Ismail Kadare, Albania’s best known poet and novelist, won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005. His most recent novel, The Successor, was named a New York Times Notable Book, and was a Financial Times Best Fiction pick. He lives in Paris and Albania.

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