Virginia Zaharieva was born in Sofia in 1959. She is a
writer, psychotherapist, feminist, and mother. Her novel Nine
Rabbits is among the most celebrated Bulgarian books to appear over
the past two decades and the first of Zaharieva’s work made
available in North America.
Angela Rodel earned a BA from Yale University and a MA from
UCLA, both in linguistics. She won a Fulbright fellowship to study
Bulgarian at Sofia University in 1996 and returned to Bulgaria on a
Fulbright–Hays Fellowship in 2004 where she still resides and works
as a literary translator of note. Rodel won a PEN Translation Fund
Grant from the American PEN Foundation for Holy Light, a collection
of stories by Georgi Tenev—the first time a Bulgarian work has
received this award. Her translations of Milen Rouskov’s novel
Thrown into Nature, Zachary Karabashliev’s 18% Gray, and Angel
Igov’s A Short Tale of Shame are published by Open Letter Books.
“Zaharieva packs several genres into one, including but not limited
to pastoral idyll, sexual coming–of–age story, and feminist memoir.
Ultimately, she presents life in all its messiness and possibility,
vivid enough for the reader to almost taste.”—Publishers Weekly
“Each chapter—usually just two to four pages and often ending with
a recipe or two—centers around a theme, which might be abstract,
concrete, or metaphorical. Usually some event has generated an
idea, which is then teased open. The recipes—an eclectic mix of
mostly East European dishes with natural, fresh ingredients—sound
delicious, and they may also have the purpose of grounding the
writer and the writing. It is as though she were saying that we
need our connection to the physical world, and food best serves
that purpose
This is powerful, controlled writing.”—Rain Taxi
"Characters are portrayed in a stark light exposing their
neediness, their unflattering traits, and, as the novel progresses,
their hard–fought wisdom. . . It's rare for me to recommend a novel
on the strength of its wisdom, but time and again I found myself
nodding appreciably as Manda moves towards a uniquely feminine Zen
understanding of herself."—Heavy Feather Review
“A remarkable, untraditional novel about a universal story: one
woman's quest to create—and maintain—her own identity
Told through
a series of beautifully written short chapters, Nine Rabbits is a
moving tale of one woman's struggle to identify not as one part of
herself, but as a whole, complex being. While the novel certainly
addresses some heavy topics, Zaharieva moves through each scene
with the ease of an old friend sharing stories over a long, boozy
dinner, making Nine Rabbits read more like a memoir than a novel,
and making Manda seem less like a character and more like the
fully–realized woman she strives to be."—Cedar Rapids Gazette
"I know of few books that explore the workings of psychological and
cultural legacies as fearlessly... The boldness of Nine Rabbits is
expressed in its narrative virtuosity as well, for it blends
memoir, recipes, alternative endings, references to popular Western
culture, koans, dreams, diary entries and verse."—Rob Neufeld, The
Asheville Citizen–Times
"One moment there is past–tense prose and the next we meet the
startling present in poetry, stream–of–consciousness, and the most
well–timed recipes ever to grace a novel. Zaharieva's prose reads
like a reverie and translator Angela Rodel maintains authenticity
with her mastery of slang equivalents, partly responsible for the
total lack of boundaries between page and reader. We are under the
waves with Manda, from beginning to end, unable to separate
ourselves from her clear, brutal vision of the 'Great Experiment'
of her life."—Curbside Splendor
"Lyrical and magical...Filled with nostalgia, [the novel's] recipes
beg to be made. Eccentric instructions and all."—Pop–Break
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