DivineChild Format: TradePaperback

In the early 1990s, as Yugoslavia begins to crumble, so too does a woman, known only as Mother. Ostracized by her Croatian neighbors because of her Serbian background, the bright cheer Mother brought to her role as a wife and mother is darkened by the onset of mental illness that devours an entire family. Seen through the acerbic and wry perspective of Mother’s eldest daughter, Divine Child paints a picture of the forces that batter an individual into shape in a time of economic crisis and rabid nationalism. This unforgettable survival narrative won the 2013 Jutarnji list Award for Novel of the Year in Croatia.

Will Firth was born in 1965 in Newcastle, Australia. He studied German and Slavic languages in Canberra, Zagreb, and Moscow. Since 1991 he has been living in Berlin, where he works as a translator of literature and the humanities—from Russian, Macedonian, and all variants of Serbo-Croatian. In 2005–07 he translated for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Firth is a member of professional associations in Germany (VdÜ) and Britain (Translators Association). His best-received translations of recent years include Robert Perišic’s Our Man in Iraq. Best known as a poet, Tatjana Gromaca’s novel Divine Children received the Vladimir Nazor Award for Literature and the Jutarnji list Award for Novel of the Year.