Pirey
SynopsisPlot
Set during the Balkan Wars, the First World War and the years soon after, the story follows the major political shifts in the Balkans at the end of the Ottoman Empire and their catastrophic impact on a Macedonian village and a married couple, Ion and Velika. The book is famous for its depiction of life around the time of the division of Macedonia, its characterizations, and its use of language and historical setting. While Ion is in the army, Velika struggles as she watches her children and her village ravaged by war. In one famous scene, Ion, conscripted into the Serbian army, and his brother, conscripted into the Bulgarian army, come face-to-face one night on the battlefield. The author, Petre M. Andreevski, was a Macedonian poet, novelist and playwright who won numerous awards for his works, many of which have been translated into other languages. Pirey is his most acclaimed novel and was a best seller in Macedonia. This is the first translation of Pirey into English.
Story
About this book
Pirey follows a married couple, Ion and Velika, living in a Macedonian village during the Balkan Wars and the First World War. The novel covers a period of severe upheaval in the region, as the Ottoman Empire recedes and competing states redraw borders across Macedonia. Ion is conscripted into military service, leaving Velika to hold together a household while war, famine, and displacement close in around her and her children. The title refers to a tenacious weed, and the word carries broader associations in Macedonian usage.
One of the novel's central tensions comes from the division of families by new national borders. In a well-known scene, Ion, serving in the Serbian army, encounters his own brother on the battlefield, conscripted on the Bulgarian side. The moment captures in specific human terms what the partition of Macedonia meant for ordinary people caught between rival states they had no part in choosing.
Petre M. Andreevski, the author, was a Macedonian poet, novelist, and playwright who received multiple literary awards during his career. Pirey became a bestseller in Macedonia and is widely regarded as a landmark of modern Macedonian fiction. The edition referenced here is the first English translation of the novel.
