The Doll: A Portrait of My Mother

The Doll: A Portrait of My Mother (Albanian: Kukulla) is an autobiographical novel sketching Albanian author Ismail Kadare's relationship with his mother.[1] It dwells upon the family's life in Gjirokastër and later in Tirana, "full of compelling details of life in a changing Albania",[2] as well as on the author's own time as a student at the Gorky Institute in Moscow.[3] While the portrait of his mother remains insubstantial, there are reflections upon the author's own youthful literary ambitions,[4] and the nature of autocracy.[5]

The Doll: A Portrait of My Mother
First edition
AuthorIsmail Kadare
TranslatorJohn Hodgson
Set inAlbania and Moscow
PublisherOnufri, Harvill Secker
Publication date
2015
Published in English
2020
Pages208

The work was first published in Albanian in 2015, and was translated into English by John Hodgson for publication by Harvill Secker in 2020.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Nilanjana Roy (17 January 2020). "The Doll by Ismail Kadare: A mesmerising autobiographical novel". The Financial Times.
  2. ^ John Burnside (9 January 2020). "The Doll by Ismail Kadare Review: a fascinating study of difficult love". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Leo Robson (1 March 2020). "The Doll by Ismail Kadare. Review: A slippery study of maternal obsession". The Daily Telegraph.
  4. ^ Kevin Brazil (20 March 2020). "Childish Things: The narcissism of being a son". The Times Literary Supplement.
  5. ^ Boyd Tonkin (1 February 2020). "Albanian literary icon Ismail Kadare revisits 'home'". The Spectator.