The Doll: A Portrait of My Mother
 First edition | |
| Author | Ismail Kadare |
|---|---|
| Translator | John Hodgson |
| Set in | Albania and Moscow |
| Publisher | Onufri, Harvill Secker |
Publication date | 2015 |
Published in English | 2020 |
| Pages | 208 |
The Doll: A Portrait of My Mother (Albanian: Kukulla) is an autobiographical novel sketching Albanian author Ismail Kadare's relationship with his mother.[1] It dwells upon the family's life in Gjirokastër and later in Tirana, "full of compelling details of life in a changing Albania",[2] as well as on the author's own time as a student at the Gorky Institute in Moscow.[3] While the portrait of his mother remains insubstantial, there are reflections upon the author's own youthful literary ambitions,[4] and the nature of autocracy.[5]
The work was first published in Albanian in 2015, and was translated into English by John Hodgson for publication by Harvill Secker in 2020.[1]
References
- ^ a b Nilanjana Roy (17 January 2020). "The Doll by Ismail Kadare: A mesmerising autobiographical novel". The Financial Times.
- ^ John Burnside (9 January 2020). "The Doll by Ismail Kadare Review: a fascinating study of difficult love". The Guardian.
- ^ Leo Robson (1 March 2020). "The Doll by Ismail Kadare. Review: A slippery study of maternal obsession". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Kevin Brazil (20 March 2020). "Childish Things: The narcissism of being a son". The Times Literary Supplement.
- ^ Boyd Tonkin (1 February 2020). "Albanian literary icon Ismail Kadare revisits 'home'". The Spectator.