Bottled Goods: A Novel
2.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Longlisted for the 2019 Women’s Prize, this poignant, lyrical novel is set in 1970s Romania during Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime—and depicts childhood, marriage, family, and identity in the face of extreme obstacles.
Alina yearns for freedom. She and her husband Liviu are teachers in their twenties, living under the repressive regime of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the Socialist Republic of Romania in the 1970s. But after her brother-in-law defects, Alina and Liviu fall under suspicion and surveillance, and their lives are suddenly turned upside down—just like the glasses in her superstitious Aunt Theresa's house that are used to ward off evil spirits.
But Alina's evil spirits are more corporeal: a suffocating, manipulative mother; a student who accuses her; and a menacing Secret Services agent who makes one-too-many visits. As the couple continues to be harassed, their marriage soon deteriorates. With the government watching—and most likely listening— escape seems impossible . . . until Alina’s mystical aunt proposes a surprising solution to reduce her problems to a manageable size.
Weaving elements of magic realism, Romanian folklore, and Kafkaesque paranoia into a gritty and moving depiction of one woman's struggle for personal and political freedom, Bottled Goods is written in short bursts of “flash fiction” and explores universal themes of empowerment, liberty, family, and loyalty.
Sophie van Llewyn
Sophie van Llewyn was born in southeastern Romania and now lives in Germany. She has published and won awards for her flash fiction and short stories across the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. Bottled Goods is Sophie’s debut long fiction work. It has been long-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019, the Republic of Consciousness Prize 2019, and the People’s Book Prize 2018.
Related to Bottled Goods
Related ebooks
Spring: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Big Lonesome: Stories Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Farthest South & Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDaddy's Gone A-Hunting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVariations on the Body Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPina Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Case of Emergency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Place Will Comfort You: Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSnow in May: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Journey to the South Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black Cathedral: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Abundance: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Children of This Madness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStanding Heavy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAbout Uncle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProfessor Schiff's Guilt Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOther Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Living Days Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLand of Big Numbers: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rouge Street: Three Novellas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Suncatcher: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Ants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCatch the Rabbit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Party Headquarters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Butcher's Hook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5City in Flames Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the City of Pigs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNatural History: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Winterlings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cars on Fire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Literary Fiction For You
The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If We Were Villains: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Birds: Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Handmaid's Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden (Original Classic Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lagos Wife: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tender Is the Flesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything's Fine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Bottled Goods
2 ratings0 reviews