Nadia
by Christine Evans
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Pub Date Sep 19 2023 | Archive Date Sep 19 2023
University of Iowa Press | University Of Iowa Press
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Description
Nadia moves between the competing perspectives of two survivors of the 1990s Balkan Wars who have escaped to London, only to discover that the war has followed them there. Nadia is a young refugee who just wants to forget the past—until Iggy starts temping at her London office. Afraid he may be a sniper from the war she fled, Nadia starts seeing threats everywhere, alongside unsettling visions of her lost girlfriend, Sanja. As her volatile connection with Iggy unravels, Nadia is forced to face the ethically shaky choices she made to escape the war, her survivor guilt, and her disavowed queer sexuality.
Christine Evans's novel takes us to the recent past of a war that broke apart a European country and that presciently foreshadowed the rise of ethno-nationalism in the West. Tense, suspenseful, and mordantly funny, Nadia tracks the complex ways in which a past marked by political violence can shadow and disrupt the present.
Advance Praise
“Shockingly original, stunningly written, Nadia is fierce, funny, and tragic, filled with encroaching dread about a Serbian ex-sniper and a young Bosnian refugee who is so distinctive she should be patented. Like Emily St. John Mandel, the author plants us in a cryptic, dangerous new reality we never doubt for a second. To say I loved this novel is an understatement. To say you should read it is a command.”—Caroline Leavitt, author, With or Without You
“From its very first sentence, Christine Evans’s Nadia sweeps the reader up in a riveting tale of war, survival, love, and trauma. The story is set in London, just after the Balkan Wars, but is less about fighting than about the way any war forces those caught in it to face who they really are, what they believe, and what they will do about it. Nadia is immensely rewarding to read, touching both the intellect and the heart.”—Helen Benedict, author, Wolf Season
“Christine Evans writes with masterful restraint, achieving a literary debut that is both a page-turner and an exquisite rendering of queer resilience despite the specters of war. Like the quiet after a gunshot, the silences in Nadia crackle with threat. You won’t be able to put it down.”—Sarah Cypher, author, The Skin and Its Girl
“Christine Evans's Nadia is a brilliant meditation on how the forgotten will fight tooth and nail to be remembered, sneak in through the trap doors of our hearts, and border our vision. A master storyteller, Evans bends time and space with the precision of a mystic physicist.”—Sabrina Orah Mark, author, Happily: A Personal History with Fairy Tales
“A tale thick with trauma and acute with a sense of longing for a home that was erased, this often brutal, sometimes lovely, and always humane novel wades through the refuse of war to elevate those who were blotted out. . . . Nadia is a poetic, unflinching novel that centers on the victims and ripple effects of the Bosnian War.”—Foreword Reviews, starred review
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781609389093 |
| PRICE | $19.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 246 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Kathryn M, Reviewer
I enjoyed the two perspectives in this novel, it has everything that I was hoping for. Christine Evans does a great job in creating a realistic view overall. The characters were what I was looking for and worked in this storyline. They felt like realistic people and worked in the time set.
Lynn S, Reviewer
Nadia takes place in two time frames. In London, after the Bosnian War, and during the armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war. Nadia is a Muslim woman who is struggling with her identity as she was raised by a conservative Muslim family. Nadia has a strong attraction to and falls in love with a strong willed lesbian, Zara, during the war. Nadia's life in London is dull and boring as an office worker but this quickly changes as someone new joins the team. Nadia quickly realized he is not who he claims to be, but then again neither is Nadia.
Christine Evans creates a character that the reader feels deeply for in Nadia. As the narrative takes the reader back and forth in time from the conflict to the UK we uncover more about the struggles Nadia faced with her family, religion and sexuality. The author handles this with sensitivity even though a lot of the book deals with the brutality of war.
As Nadia comes to terms with her past and learns how to live in the present the reader is compelled to read on. The supporting characters are realistic, with doubts and fears, strengths and weaknesses, societal pressures, and problems with their jobs and love lives.
Nadia is a character and a book I won't soon forget. I would re-read Nadia to see what I missed or misinterpreted the first time. I encourage everyone to go their local bookstore and pickup a copy immediately.
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