Awards

• Short-listed for Text & Sprache Prize 2018 (Germany)

Overview

When Hammoudi, a young surgeon based in Paris, returns to Syria to renew his passport, he only expects to stay there a few days. But the authorities refuse to let him leave and Hammoudi finds himself caught up in the fight against the regime. Meanwhile, budding actress Amal has also joined the protests against the government and her own father, by whom she feels betrayed. Realising that they will never again be safe in their homeland, Amal and her boyfriend Youssef decide to flee to Europe in a desperate bid to survive. But the path to safety brings its own risks, and Amal and Youssef once again narrowly escape death when their overcrowded ship sinks. Eventually they reach Germany, but soon discover that in this new life – where they are perceived as nothing but refugees – their struggle is far from over. City of Jasmine is an intimate and striking novel that offers real insight into the horrors and inhumanity of war, whilst also focusing on the humanity of the protagonists, marking Olga Grjasnowa as one of the most talented and admired young authors working in Germany today.

Full Product Details

9781786074874

Table of Contents

Reviews

`There are few authors writing in German as sensuously and vividly as Grjasnowa.' * <i>KulturSpiegel</i> * `Grjasnowa provides a close-as-skin understanding of what it's like to suffer bombardment, torture, and dislocation while remaining human and hopeful... Highly recommended.' * <i>Library Journal</i>, Reading Around the World: 12 Top Spring Titles for the Library Market * `Grjasnowa's measured undemonstrative writing style (the book is beautifully translated from German by Katy Derbyshire) is central to the novel's success... A significant literary and moral success.' * <i>Big Issue</i> * `An important and painful book.' * <i>Deutschlandradio Kultur</i> * `It is wonderful that there are writers like Grjasnowa who can write brilliantly and decisively about the real world.' * <i>Brigitte</i> * `Olga Grjasnowa's sentences crack like a whip.' * <i>Suddeutsche Zeitung</i> *

`Olga Grjasnowa's sentences crack like a whip.' * <i>Suddeutsche Zeitung</i> * `There are few authors writing in German as sensuously and vividly as Grjasnowa.' * <i>KulturSpiegel</i> *

`There are few authors writing in German as sensuously and vividly as Grjasnowa.' * <i>KulturSpiegel</i> * `Grjasnowa provides a close-as-skin understanding of what it's like to suffer bombardment, torture, and dislocation while remaining human and hopeful... Highly recommended.' * <i>Library Journal</i>, Reading Around the World: 12 Top Spring Titles for the Library Market * `Grjasnowa's measured undemonstrative writing style (the book is beautifully translated from German by Katy Derbyshire) is central to the novel's success... A significant literary and moral success.' * <i>Big Issue</i> * `An important and painful book.' * <i>Deutschlandradio Kultur</i> * `It is wonderful that there are writers like Grjasnowa who can write brilliantly and decisively about the real world.' * <i>Brigitte</i> * `A dark, tragic story with the resilient light of humanity shining through it... It truly spoke to my soul.' * <i>Marjorie's World of Books,</i> blog review * `Olga Grjasnowa's sentences crack like a whip.' * <i>Suddeutsche Zeitung</i> *

Author Information

Olga Grjasnowa was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. Her debut novel Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt (All Russians Love Birch Trees) was awarded the Klaus-Michael Ku¨hne Prize and the Anna Seghers Prize. City of Jasmine is her third novel. Olga Grjasnowa lives with her family in Berlin. Katy Derbyshire, originally from London, has lived in Berlin for over twenty years. Her translation of Clemens Meyer’s Bricks and Mortar was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2017. She occasionally teaches translation and also co-hosts a monthly translation lab and the bi-monthly Dead Ladies Show. Katy was recently awarded the Translator Prize of the Foundation for Art and Culture NRW – endowed with €25,000 – for her translation and advocacy work.

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