In Late Summer

When a picturesque village in Bosnia is caught in war turmoil, the entire childhood world of little girls Ivana and Dunja and their families will be blown up and swept away. Nothing will be left of carefree games, innocent girlhood dreams and big fantasies, for in an enemy attack death will seize one of them, Ivana, in the moment of eternal youth, when she was only fourteen.

In Late Summer is a powerful novel in which Magdalena Blažević writes about strong emotions and states that leave one forever scarred from the point of view of a killed girl, creating a universal story that stretches beyond Žepče and the neighbouring villages, the Bosnia river and the period the novel is set, becoming a universal hymn against wars and killings. Magdalena Blažević, like Agota Kristof or Ingeborg Bachmann, weaves a world of emotions boiling under the perfectly clear-cut sentences. In Late Summer is a novel to be read slowly for its fears, sufferings, strength and sorrow shoot out of every words. Magdalena Blažević truly is one of the finest storytelling voices today.