Books in the Balkan Trilogy series

Taking its departure from both the Nazi massacre at Kragujevac in former Yugoslavia in 1941, and a moment at the memorial museum in 1985, when a blue butterfly descended onto the author's writing hand, this profound book crafts living poetry out of suffering and tragedy.

Set in the ruins of Yugoslavia, this book explores the images and realities of war, destruction and dictatorship, and of fertility, nurture and peace. The key figure is the Balkan rain maiden. This gypsy or peasant girl takes on a mythological authority and a wholly modern moral presence. In the wake of waste and war she is the incarnation of hope.

Written during and after the disintegration of Yugoslavia, this book presents a complex vision of the Balkans that flinches from neither brutality nor beauty but honours dignity and courage. The book starts with a long poem 'Do vidjenje Danitse', and continues with a series of memorial tablets for victims of Jasenovac Concentration Camp.