Overview
āHouses like ours seemed constructed with the specific purpose of preserving coldness and misunderstanding for as long as possible.ā
In his fatherās great stone house with hidden rooms and even a dungeon, Ismail grows up with his mother at the center of his universe. Fragile as a paper doll, she finds herself at odds with her tightālipped and wise motherāinālaw who, as is the custom for women of a certain age, will never again step foot over the threshold to leave her home. Young Ismail finds it difficult to understand his motherās tears, though he can understand her boredom. She told him the reason herself in a phrase that terrified and obsessed the boy: āThe house is eating me up!ā
As Ismail explores his world, his mother becomes fearful of her intellectual sonāhe uses words she does not understand, writes radical poetry, falls in love far too easily, and seems to renounce everything she believes in. He will, she fears, have to exchange her for some other superior mother when he becomes a famous writer.
The Doll is a delicate and disarming autobiographical novel, an exploration of Kadareās creative aspirations and their tangled connections to his childhood home and his motherās tenuous place within it.
This book title, The Doll (A Portrait of My Mother), ISBN: 9781640094222, by Ismail Kadare, John Hodgson, published by Catapult (November 17, 2020) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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