Author(s): Nana Ekvtimishvili; Elizabeth Heighway

Novel | Translated fiction | Eastern Europe

Lela knows two things: her history teacher must die and she must start a new life beyond the pear field. On the outskirts of Tbilisi, in a newly independent Georgia, is the Residential School for Intellectually Disabled Children – or, as the locals call it, the School for Idiots. Abandoned by their parents, the pupils here receive lessons in violence and neglect. At 18, Lela is old enough to leave, but with nowhere to go she stays and plans, both for her own escape and for the future she hopes to give Irakli, a young boy at the school. When a couple from the USA decide they want to adopt a child, Lela is determined to do everything she can to help Irakli make the most of this chance.

 In post-soviet Georgia, on the outskirts of Tbilisi, on the corner of Kerch St., is an orphanage. Its teachers offer pupils lessons in violence, abuse and neglect. Lela is old enough to leave but has nowhere else to go. She stays and plans for the children's escape, for the future she hopes to give to Irakli, a young boy in the home. When an American couple visits, offering the prospect of a new life, Lela decides she must do everything she can to give Irakli this chance.

Review: 'Nana Ekvtimishvili has written a merciless book that gives voice to those left behind whilst crying out against apathy and brutality.' HOLGER HEIMANN, WDR 5 'This novel becomes more complicated, more poetic, more nuanced from page to page (...) with characters that could be in any Dickens novel.' STEFAN MESCH, SPIEGEL ONLINE 'This is more than just a cleverly designed novel. The book is the sharp-sighted portrait of a society that loses its humanity on its way to a new era. A moving debut.' MIRKO SCWANITZ, NDR

Author Biography: Nana Ekvtimishvili is an internationally acclaimed Georgian writer and director. Her debut feature film In Bloom premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2013. It won the International Confederation of Art Cinema Award and was Georgia's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2014. Published in Georgia in 2015, The Pear Field is her debut novel and has already been translated into German to much acclaim.