Genre: Short
Story Collection
Description:
“A mother pickpocketing tourists in order to support her daughter. An
elderly war veteran ashamed of his actions during the Holocaust. Two brothers
hunting a killer bear. A Syrian refugee working in a Sofia bakery. A femme
fatale disappearing at an international writers’ conference. And two neighbors
competing to see who makes the best alcoholic drink.
This collection of heartwarming and culturally illuminating stories
introduces readers to Bulgaria—its majestic mountains; picturesque villages;
and rich history and traditions—and leaves them wanting more.”
Author:
“Ellis Shuman is an American-born Israeli author, travel writer, and
book reviewer. His writing has appeared in The Jerusalem Post, The Times of
Israel, and The Huffington Post. His short fiction has been nominated for the
Pushcart Prize, and has appeared in Isele Magazine, Vagabond, The Write Launch,
Esoterica, Jewish Literary Journal, San Antonio Review, and other literary
publications. He is the author of The Virtual Kibbutz, Valley of
Thracians, The Burgas Affair, and Rakiya.”
For more about Ellis Shuman, visit his blog.
Appraisal:
I’m a fan of travel memoirs. One of the reasons I like to read them is
it gives me a chance to vicariously travel to places I haven’t had the chance
to travel myself. While it is made clear in multiple places that the stories in
this collection are fiction, with all of them taking place in Bulgaria, these
stories made me feel like I’d been there with subtle things about the culture,
topography, and history of the country finding their way into the story. A few
of the stories featured someone traveling from nearby Israel (the country the
American-born author of these currently lives in), making me think that the
author’s experiences traveling in Bulgaria had probably at least helped form
the big picture of some of these. They may be fiction, but still gave me a much
better feel for Bulgaria from reading them and quite entertained as well.
If you’re wondering about the title, Rakiya, this is an alcoholic
beverage popular in Bulgaria that appears in some of the stories like a beer or
a bottle of wine might pop up in stories from other places.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
Format/Typo
Issues:
Review is based on an advance reader copy, so I can’t gauge the final
product in this area.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words
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