I highly recommend this book
to whoever is interested in reading a compelling story about
totalitarian regimes, secret services and the dangers of an
artistic life during that time. This book is also a window to
Albanian culture, traditions and student life in the
1970-80's. A very painful and fascinating true story,
situated in Albania, an Eastern European communist country.
The book gives an insight on how people in that time were
controlled by the secret service and how frightening the
totalitarian regime was. The main character, Shpetim, was a
young and gifted artist. He wanted to express something
different and innovative with his writing. However, he faced
bitter consequences from the instruments of a regime that
suppressed creativity and closed the lid on freedom of
expression. Shpetim's theatrical plays and documentaries were
not open to the public due to their liberalistic ideas.
Shpetim was a very courageous and honest writer, who was very
open with his thoughts. His life ended abruptly at the young
age of twenty-two. His death raised many unanswered questions
and left his family disconsolated. Ms. Gina, has an
impressive way of telling the story. Her fluid narrative draws
a very vivid picture of places and characters of that time.
Ms. Gina's attractive way of telling the story, combined with
her spiritual and emotional dimension, makes this book very
special and unique.
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"Where Is My Brother?" is a
very personal and fascinating autobiographical account of life
in Communist Albania in the 1970s. The story centers around
the relationship between the author and her brother, Shpetim,
who inexplicably disappeared in August, 1974, reported dead
from a drowning accident. This report, however, appears
frought with holes and slippery, ever-changing accounts of
what really happened, leaving the author with little
consolation and supreme doubt of the actual event. Her search
for the truth then begins in a time and place where truth has
become a lost commodity.
Mrs. Gina has a deeply poetic
sense, giving us fractured images of Albanian family life 30
years ago, adolescent memories, the world of the arts, and of
course, the heavy hand of Communism and all the secrecy and
horrors it entails. The writing is always honest, clearly
spoken from the author's heart, and very moving, a story that
ends far too soon for the reader, and one, I'm afraid, that
ended far too soon for the author as well.
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Where is My
Brother? is part memoir, part unsolved mystery. Ms. Gina tells
the story of one family's experiences in totalitarian Albania.
The story is told in a straightforward manner, as though one
is sitting in Ms. Gina's living room hearing her relate the
tale. The language of the story in translation compellingly
invokes the cadences and thought patterns of the original
language.
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Adelina Gina manages to
transport her readers to a time and a place most know little
about. She is unabashedly honest, endearing her protagonist to
readers immediately. Her sophisticated writing manages to
convey political tension alongside youth and whimsy. A
thoroughly enjoyable read. Does leave one in anticipation for
a sequel.
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