This collection comprises 18 short stories as on the surface the narratives are deceptively straightforward: mostly female narrators are recollecting a memory of a great grandmother, a lost love, a deceased husband, a childhood event. Beleva is a master of language as she focuses on individual words, even letters. Many of the stories deal with the power or importance of words: misspelled or all-together missing, incorrect or seemingly accurate. These stories are deeply rooted in tradition, yet with the universal theme of love: for a child, for a dog, for a teacher, for those who existed in our periphery. The author often leaves much more unsaid and in doing so she opens spaces for the reader to plant something of their own. The title received the Yordan Radichkov national short story award in 2022.
– Yana Ellis

cover design by IVO RAFAILOV