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For more than a century, the confused and highly inflammatory history of former Yugoslavia has been the subject of numerous books, many of them rife with revisionist history and propaganda. The peoples of the Balkans live on the border of three worlds: the Islamic, the orthodox Slavic East, and Catholic Europe, and as such they stand in the path of major world conflicts that are not only geo-political but fundamentally spiritual. This novel cuts to the core question: how does a person retain his identity, indeed his humanity, in absolutely dehumanizing situations?
In the life of the central character, the author
demonstrates that this will demand suffering and sacrifice, heroism and
even holiness. When he is twelve years old, his entire world is destroyed,
and so begins a lifelong Odyssey to find again the faith which the blows
of evil have shattered. The plot takes the reader through Josip's youth,
his young manhood, life under the Communist regime, hope and loss and
unexpected blessings, the growth of his creative powers as a poet, and the
ultimate test of his life. There are journeys that show him new worlds and
there are numerous characters who affect his life, and who are changed by
him. Ultimately this novel is about the ways divine providence can bring
forth good fruit from the lives of those who have suffered radical
injustice. It is about the crucifixion of a soul--and resurrection.
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