Spring Flowers, Spring Frost: A Novel

In a town at the foot of the northern Highlands, life goes on as always, but people are in a state of shock: a bank has been robbed, a sure sign of the Westernization of this backward Balkan land. Meanwhile, other strange events-such as the marriage of a girl and a snake-confirm that ancient legends still prevail. People are flocking from far and wide to search for a tunnel to the Secret State Archives, said to house records of crimes they may have committed. Some even claim the ghosts of former dictators Hoxha, Brezhnev, and Ulbricht-not to mention Oedipus-have been seen there. . . . Against this backdrop, a simple and sensual love story between a painter and a girl stands out as light against dark.