Crossing
A Novel
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR:
THE GUARDIAN • LIBRARY JOURNAL
Steeped in a rich heritage of bewitching Albanian myth and legend, Crossing is a deeply timely and deeply necessary novel about war, exile, and identity in all its complex permutations.
After the death of his father, a young boy named Bujar grows up in the ruins of Communist Albania and of his own family. Only his fearless best friend, Agim—who is facing realizations about his gender and sexuality—gives him hope for the future. Together the two decide to leave everything behind and try their luck in Italy. But the struggle to feel at home—in a foreign country and even in one’s own body—will have corrosive…
$34.00
March 24, 2020
PAJTIM STATOVCI was born in Kosovo to Albanian parents in 1990. His family fled the Yugoslav wars and moved to Finland when he was two years old. He holds an MA in comparative literature and is a PhD candidate at the University of Helsinki. His first book, My Cat Yugoslavia, won the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize for best debut novel; his second novel, Crossing, was a finalist for the National Book Award; and Bolla was awarded Finland’s highest literary honor, The Finlandia Prize. In 2018, he received the Helsinki Writer of the Year Award.
His newest novel, Bolla, will be published in July 2021 by Pantheon Books.
