Description
Book SynopsisAn amnesiac writer’s life of lies and false memories reaches a breaking point in this stunning English-language debut from an award-winning Croatian author. As a novelist, Matija makes things up for a living. Not yet thirty, he’s written two well-received books. It’s his third that is as big a failure as his private life. Unable to confine his fabrications to fiction, he’s been abandoned by his girlfriend over his lies. But all Matija has is invention. Especially when it comes to his childhood and the death of his father. Whatever happened to Matija as a young boy, he can’t remember. He feels frightened, angry, and responsible… Now, after years of burying and reinventing his past, Matija must confront it. Longing for connection, he might even win back the love of his life. But discovering the profound fears he has suppressed has its risks. Finally seeing the real world he emerged from could upend it all over again.
Trade Review“Novak captures well the way that grief may isolate, dislocate, and unmoor the bereaved, especially if it’s a child left largely to fend for himself…A search for the painful and awkward wellsprings of the novelistic imagination.” —Kirkus Reviews “Dark Mother Earth is a dynamic and gripping novel that is unflinching and honest when it comes to exploring national identity.” —Foreword Reviews
