publication croisée depuis : https://jlai.lu/post/4804207

About the book (official blurb)

Lea Ypi grew up in one of the most isolated countries on earth, a place where communist ideals had officially replaced religion. Albania, the last Stalinist outpost in Europe, was almost impossible to visit, almost impossible to leave. It was a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. To Lea, it was home. People were equal, neighbours helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world. There was community and hope.

Then, in December 1990, everything changed. The statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote freely, wear what they liked and worship as they wished. There was no longer anything to fear from prying ears. But factories shut, jobs disappeared and thousands fled to Italy on crowded ships, only to be sent back. Predatory pyramid schemes eventually bankrupted the country, leading to violent conflict. As one generation’s aspirations became another’s disillusionment, and as her own family’s secrets were revealed, Lea found herself questioning what freedom really meant.

My review

This is the best book about Albania I’ve ever read, which doesn’t tell you much because it’s also the only book about Albania I’ve ever read (for now).

It did make me want to read more, though.

In this book, we follow young Lea as she goes to school in Albania, the Only True Communist Country™, in the 1990s, and as her family goes through the journey of becoming a truly independent country, followed by the joys and pains of embracing capitalism, which includes unbanning religion, trying to figure out what religion even means, watching ads on Yugoslav television, collecting Coca-Cola cans, and needing to choose between several political parties.

There is so much going on, and following this one girl allows us to grasp how incredibly big this is while still keeping it to a manageable, understandable level. It’s extremely well-written, very engaging, reads very naturally and was a perfect first foray into Albanian culture and history for me.

Oh, also? I love memoirs that have plot twists. You’ll have to read the book to understand that one.

Read on my website: https://alexsirac.com/free-coming-of-age-at-the-end-of-history/

About the book: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/c08dd045-da79-4980-b2df-793ca92bd8dd

My review

Time to go back to good old crime novels, including a twist (lesbians. the twist is lesbians.).

I’ve already talked about how funnily enough, I consider most crime novels uplifting, as long as the grueling horrors aren’t too detailed. Their structure is very clear-cut and they’re not taking any risks, usually, following a very neat timeline of « oh no, someone died! », « oh no, things are getting worse! » (which may or may not include other people dying, or terrible family secrets being revealed, this novel being in the latter category), and « ah, justice has been brought! » (sometimes by murdering the murderer, because crime novels support the death penalty, i guess).

You’d think that with such a cookie-cutter scenario, thrillers wouldn’t be able to surprise me.

And yet!!

In Speak of the Devil, seven women find the body. They could all be the murderer. One of them is in a weird off and on again relationship with the local cop, Woman Number 8, who will investigate the case. And the seven women agree that, whoever committed that murder, they’ll all be in trouble if they don’t all cover for each other.

Except that the cop is smart, and the others make mistakes, and thinks will slowly unravel, and by the end of the novel, we won’t be sure what is even going on anymore.

~~The death penalty is extremely wrong! But also, whew, I’d also behead that guy.~~

Loads of content warnings because this is a feminist crime novel, including a beheading in the prologue, and horrific (and impressingly diverse) forms of abuse throughout the entire story.

On my website: https://alexsirac.com/speak-of-the-devil/

Including:

• Stats
• Where I find my books
• Where I find reading recommendations
• My best reads of 2023

(The vast majority of these books are available in English, a couple are only in French. The review itself is in English.)