Before the Feast by Saša Stanišić (Author), Anthea Bell (Translator)
THIS COVER. I would get this image as a tattoo in a heartbeat, if I didn’t think it would make my tattoo artist insane. It’s so intricate and gorgeous. It’s out in June from Tin House Books.
The description:
“It’s the night before the feast in the village of Fu¨rstenfelde (population: an odd number). The village is asleep. Except for the ferryman―he’s dead. And Mrs. Kranz, the night-blind painter, who wants to depict her village for the first time at night. A bell-ringer and his apprentice want to ring the bells―the only problem is that the bells have gone. A vixen is looking for eggs for her young, and Mr. Schramm is discovering more reasons to quit life than to quit smoking.
Someone has opened the doors to the Village Archive, but what drives the sleepless out of their houses is not that which was stolen, but that which has escaped. Old stories, myths, and fairy tales are wandering about the streets with the people. They come together in a novel about a long night, a mosaic of village life, in which the long-established and newcomers, the dead and the living, craftsmen, pensioners, and noble robbers in football shirts bump into each other. They all want to bring something to a close, in this night before the feast.”
I have a good feeling about this book. A few of my recent favorite books have also had foxes on the cover – I take this to be a good sign.
AN what about this Canadian cover for Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life? I thought the UK version had a fox on the back cover, but I just looked at mine again and it’s a dog.
https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389057560l/18273521.jpg
Ahhhh! That’s much better than the rose.
Oooh pretty. Also, I love the phrase “offensively gifted” 😛
Life goals. 🙂
This book sounds bonkers in an excellent way. Also, that cover needs to be in a coloring book stat—ask your tattoo artist if they feel like doing some adult coloring!
OOOOH YES A COLORING BOOK!
The book is completely bonkers! I know it cause I wrote it!
Best cover ever too.
Cheers,
Saša
Haha! I am so excited to read it!!! Nanci is sending one soon. 🙂
So weird to imagine people in the US reading about a village in northeast Germany. But hey, I read Barry Hannah and D’J Pancake, so why the hell shouldn’t you guys read about little places in Europe?
🙂