Why a Booktrail?
2000s: The effects of war and the memories which stir beneath the silence of a quiet Croatian town
The Hired Man
What you need to know before your trail
Gost is surrounded by mountains and fields of wild flowers. The summer sun burns. The Croatian winter brings freezing winds. Beyond the boundaries of the town an old house which has lain empty for years is showing signs of life. One of the windows, glass darkened with dirt, today stands open, and the lively chatter of English voices carries across the fallow fields. Laura and her teenage children have arrived.
A short distance away lies the hut of Duro Kolak, who lives alone with his two hunting dogs. As he helps Laura with repairs to the old house, they uncover a mosaic beneath the ruined plaster and, in the rising heat of summer, painstakingly restore it. But Gost is not all it seems; conflicts long past still suppurate beneath the scars.
Travel Guide
Lika
This book is specifically set in and around the wooded, mountainous and largely undeveloped Lika region, which lies between Zagreb and the coast. Laura is English and finds a farmhouse to develop in Gost (fictional)
“Laura wanted cheese and cured meats, olives soaked in oil and vine tomatoes, like in Italy. Instead she found imitation leather jackets, mobile-phone covers and pickled vegetables.”
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Hired Man
Destination: Gost (fictional) , Lika, Croatia Author/guide: Aminatta Forna Departure Time: 2000s
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