Description
Lea Ypi‘s riveting account of life under a crumbling communist system in Albania is a firm favourite with all booksellers here at Daunt Books, so we are delighted to announce that Lea is coming here in June to discuss her brilliant memoir in person.
Lea grew up in one of the most isolated countries on earth, a place where communist ideals had officially replaced religion. Albania, the last Stalinist outpost in Europe, was almost impossible to visit, almost impossible to leave. It was a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. To Lea, it was home. People were equal, neighbours helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world.
Then, in December 1990 everything changed. The statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote freely, wear what they liked and worship as they wished. As one generation’s aspirations became another’s disillusionment, Lea found herself questioning what freedom really meant.
Free is an engrossing memoir of coming of age amid political upheaval. With acute insight and wit, Lea Ypi traces the limits of progress and the burden of the past, illuminating the spaces between ideals and reality, and the hopes and fears of people pulled up by the sweep of history.
Lea will be joined in conversation by Olivia Sudjic, the highly acclaimed author of Asylum Road, Exposure and Sympathy.