The Albanian Affairs [Hardcover]

Albania. The enigma of Europe. When one thinks of Albania, if one thinks of it at all, one usually draws a blank. Why? Several reasons. One, it's not a European powerhouse like Germany, England, or France. Two, the country is located in the Balkans, an area generally ignored by the West. Three, the terrain is mountainous in a way that inhibited the easy flow of peoples and ideas into and out of the rest of Europe. Four, and probably the most important point here, Albania sank into deep isolation for roughly forty years thanks to the heavy-handed reign of one Enver Hoxha. Uncle Enver, as I "fondly" refer to him, was a hardcore Stalinist and paranoid sociopath who essentially closed the nation off from the rest of the world shortly after WWII. How paranoid was he? One of his grand projects involved building thousands of concrete bunkers along the coastline of the country in order to stave off a possible invasion from the West. It should go without saying that all of this came with a generous helping of prison camps, reeducation programs, and mass executions. Only in the last decade or so has Albania begun to open up to the rest of the world.

This newfound openness has led to a literal explosion of books about Albania. Lots of new histories are coming out, and we're even starting to see a few novels. One of them is Susana Fortes' "The Albanian Affairs". According to the book jacket, Fortes is a Spanish author who has won numerous prizes for her fiction. I can see why after reading the book. "The Albanian Affairs" is, on the surface, a story about forbidden love doomed to tragedy. It's the story of two brothers, Viktor and Ismail, growing up as sons of a powerful communist party apparatchik. The doomed love enters the picture in the form of the lovely Helena. She marries the militaristic Viktor but has eyes for poetry loving Ismail. And on and on...you get the picture. Doesn't seem like the sort of story that would win prizes, does it? That's because there is a lot more going on here than meets the eye. The love story is only a small part of the novel. You see, there's another important relationship that is key to the story, a relationship between Ismail and Viktor's father, their late mother, and a doctor who came into the family to help Viktor overcome a childhood illness.

Amidst the tumultuous love stories unfolding throughout the story, Fortes also examines the idea of memory. A large segment of the story deals with Ismail's early childhood memories of his brother, his mother, and his father. He struggles to discover what exactly happened to his parents' relationship as he grows older, and he also tries to uncover when he and Ismail began to grow apart. He's not really in a position to come right out and ask his father about the past, nor can he engage his brother on the topic. Memory is a dangerous undertaking in a communist state, especially one as paranoid as Enver Hoxha's Albania. Those asking questions or trying to discover the whereabouts of loved ones tend to disappear in the middle of the night. The regime itself seems to have no idea where the bodies are buried thanks to the constant purging of officials. Ismail is reduced to approaching an old Hungarian servant who once worked for the family in an effort to uncover the mystery surrounding his mother's misfortune. Every bit of information is piecemeal, nebulous and mysterious, until a night when the family implodes and all truth becomes horrifically, frighteningly apparent.

I was awfully proud of myself, proud that I didn't give away too many spoilers in the two paragraphs above, until I went and read the editorial review on this page. Publisher's Weekly gives away the whole ball of wax in just a few lousy sentences! Oh man! Don't worry about it, though. Fortes' novel has a lot more going for it than mere plot. For example, the atmosphere conjured up in "The Albanian Affairs" really helps the reader slip into the story. Albania during the Hoxha regime was not a happy place for anyone. Even party members worried about their future on a daily basis. Just ask Mehmet Shehu...oh, you can't because he's dead, murdered by the fearless leader in one of the endless, senseless purges that rocked the Albanian government for forty years. Fortes' novel successfully conveys this sense of danger every Albanian experienced on a daily basis through Ismail's involvement in the student underground and his investigations into his mother's fate. As he walks the streets, going about his grim work, he always worries about possible pursuers in the form of the dreaded Sigurimi (secret police) turning up to arrest him. Even the son of a prominent official isn't safe in Albania.

I definitely recommend "The Albanian Affairs" to those who love good fiction. Obviously, Albania fans will want to give it a read as well. The story is intriguing, the atmosphere is excellent, and the tragic ending will leave you thinking long after you close the book. If I had to pick on the book in any way (and I should as a reviewer), I would question the author's focus on Ismail as the sole narrator of the story. I understand why she picked the artist to tell the tale, but the story really could've achieved great heights had she also examined the story from Viktor's point of view, or even the father's. Shifting the narrative in this way might have brought deeper meaning to the book. Or not. You can tell I'm really reaching to find something wrong with Fortes' novel, can't you? I liked it immensely, enough to give it a solid five stars. I'm hoping more novels set in Albania find their way to my bookshelf in the future.

Skillfully translated from the original Spanish by Leland H. Chambers, The Albanian Affairs is a heartrending novel by author Susana Fortes. Runner-up for the Planeta Prize for fiction, one of Spain's most renowned literary competitions, The Albanian Affairs is set in the nation of Albania during Enver Hoxha's tyrannical dictatorship. Within the villa of state hero Zanum Radjik on Tirana's Elbesan road, there squats a house filled with menacing secrets. Zanum's wife is deceased these many years, and his two very different sons, who embark upon vastly different paths of honor. When the elder son, Viktor, brings home a beautiful peasant bride, passion for her threatens to overwhelm the younger sibling Ismail. The Albanian Affairs is at once a steamy tale of forbidden love, a harrowing novel of mental and emotional oppression, and a tragedy in the vein of ancient Greek classics. Highly recommended for modern literature shelves.

› Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews  5.0 out of 5 stars