Gost is surrounded by mountains and fields of wild flowers. The summer sun burns. The winter brings freezing winds. Beyond the boundaries of the town an old house which has lain empty for years is showing signs of life. One of the windows, glass darkened with dirt, today stands open, and the lively chatter of English voices carries across the fallow fields. Laura and her teenage children have arrived. A short distance away lies the hut of Duro Kolak...

Long ago, the Black Queen once ruled Zagreb in a looming fortress over the city. Her legend lives on in children's games and bedtime stories. Is it truly only folklore? And what harm is death to a queen who supposedly stole secrets from the stars? When rumors surface that the Black Queen might still be alive and living in a haunted chasm beneath Zagreb's Bear Mountain, it prompts the Star Council to dispatch star daimon Leo Solar to Earth to investigate....

"Winner of the Prix Ulysse for best debut novel in France Winner in Croatia and the Balkan region of the Kočićevo Pero Award, the Josip and Ivan Kozarac Award, and the Kiklop Award for the best work of fiction. When the Croatian War of Independence breaks out in her hometown of Vukovar in the summer of 1991 she is nine years old, nestled within the embrace of family with her father, her mother, and older brother. She is sent to a seaside vacation...

"In this masterful final work, Daša Drndić's combative, probing voice reaches new heights. In her relentless search for truth she delves into the darkest corners of our lives. And as she chastises, she atones. Andreas Ban failed in his suicide attempt. Even as his body falters and his lungs constrict, he taps on the glass of history--an impenetrable case filled with silent figures--and tries to summon those imprisoned within. Mercilessly, fearlessly,...