Country of Red Azaleas

For fans of Elena Ferrante, a novel about two women-one Serbian, one Bosnian-whose friendship spans decades and continents, war and peace times, love and estrangement.



Closer than sisters, Lara and Marija share everything, from trinkets and Hollywood movies as girls to ideologies and lovers as young woman. But when the Bosnian War pits their communities against each other in a hellish bloodbath, Lara and Marija are forced to separate: romantic Lara heads to America with her Hollywood-handsome husband and gutsy Marija goes to Sarajevo. In America, Lara seeks fulfillment through work and family, but when news from Marija abruptly ceases, the uncertainty torments Lara, driving her on a quest to find her friend. Told in lush, vivid prose, COUNTRY OF RED AZALEAS is a poignant testament not only to the power of friendship, but also our ability to find meaning and beauty in the face of horror.

Domnica Radulescu is a French and Italian literature professor at Washington and Lee University, a Fulbright scholar, and an award-winning playwright. Soon after emigrating from Rumania to the United States as a political refugee in 1983, she won a national literary prize for her collection of short stories. Radulescu is the author of two novels,Train to Trieste, which won the Library of Virginia Fiction Award, and Black Sea Twilight.