The Slave Girl and Other Stories (CEU Press Classics) (Central European Press Classics)
Andric (1892–1975), of Bosnian Croat descent, was a Yugoslavian diplomat as well as a writer of consequence who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961. As noted in the introduction to this thoughtfully selected and disquieting collection, while Andric’s novels, especially The Bridge on the Drina, get top billing, the short story was his forte. And judging from the 22 tales gathered here, Andric was endlessly inspired by women and their struggle for autonomy. In the stark title story, a strong and beautiful Herzegovinian woman who survived the massacre of her village awaits purchase as a slave in a wooden cage. A young Jewish woman is condemned to suffer for her desirability in “Love in the Kasaba.” With searing lyricism and stinging candor, Andric summons up the mysteries of sexuality and the age-old attractions and animosities between men and women, and among the diverse peoples of the gorgeous, unforgiving Balkans. Darkly symphonic, Andric’s mesmerizing stories of women trapped and enslaved by love and contempt delve into humankind’s stubborn battle against the “brutal laws of life.” --Donna Seaman