Spring Flowers, Spring Frost

By: Ismail Kadare

Narrated by: Greg Abbey

Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

In a town at the foot of the northern Highlands, life goes on as always, but people are in a state of shock: A bank has been robbed, a sure sign of the Westernization of this backward Balkan land. Meanwhile, other strange events - such as the marriage of a girl and a snake - confirm that ancient legends still prevail. People are flocking from far and wide to search for a tunnel to the Secret State Archives, said to house records of crimes they may have committed. Some even claim the ghosts of former dictators Hoxha, Brezhnev, and Ulbricht - not to mention Oedipus - have been seen there.... Against this backdrop, a simple and sensual love story between a painter and a girl stands out as light against dark.

©2000, 2011 Librairie Artheme Fayard. English translation copyright 2002, 2011 by David Bellos (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

For the motivated

This isn't really something I think will be appreciated by a reader who isn't motivated by reasons besides looking for a good read. I like the fairy tale story of the woman who marries a snake, but a lot of the surrounding narrative is confusing and less compelling. But if you're looking for novels by Albanian authors translated into English you don't have a lot of options.