Land of the Emancipated
Publisher
:
Gaïa
Parution date
:
EAN
:
9782847201475
Number of pages
:
197
Description
***Winner of the Prix des 5 Continents de la Francophonie 2010 and twelve other literary prizes***
***Translated sample available***
One of the most original novels of recent years.
—Nobel Laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio
Liliana Lazar’s childhood in a small Moldavian village inspired her to write Land of the Emancipated. This bewitching first novel spans over sixty years of Romanian history and, beyond personal alienation, considers the effects of isolation and political repression.
Orthodox and pagan beliefs were still closely interwoven in 1955 in the small Romanian village of Slobozia. The Luca family, including the son, Victor, lives close to the forest, isolated from the other villagers. The culture of the place is complex enough, but then Victor, a solitary young man prone to dangerous impulses, discovers the evil powers of the nearby lake known as the Lions’ Pit.
Nothing and no one is straightforward in the region. There is Ismaïl, a gypsy, who lives in the forest near the Lucas; everyone avoids him during the day, but at night they all come to him for healing remedies. Father Ilie is an old-fashioned priest from the pre-communist era, but he is secretly involved in the resistance against the Ceausescu regime; Simion Pop is an upstanding representative of communist authority; and Daniel is a mysterious old hermit with a shrouded past.
Victor’s impulses finally erupt. He commits murder, and to avoid punishment he hides in his mother’s attic. Consumed by guilt and the need for redemption, Victor accepts a secret mission from Father Ilie. He is to copy religious books that were banned by communists. He tries, but he cannot control his violence, and when Father Ilie is caught by the authorities and sent to the camps, Victor relapses into his two-faced persona. Then, roaming the forest near the Lions’ Pit, Victor meets Daniel, who is also looking for redemption. Can they save each other from the spell of the Lions’ Pit?
In Land of the Emancipated Lazar writes as the observant eye of human nature—the witness of good intentions and bad outcomes, of desperate souls and of those who wish to save them.
Author
Liliana Lazar : Liliana Lazar grew up in a small village in Romanian Moldavia, where her father worked in the forest. She moved to France in 1996 and works as a translator. Land of the Emancipated is her first novel.
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