Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky, translated by Tim Mohr
Sascha’s life is…complicated.
She is a teenage Russian girl living in the slum Broken Glass Park in Germany with her little sister and brother and her ex-stepfather’s cousin. Saschas’s mother is no longer around because Sascha’s ex-stepfather brutally murdered her and her boyfriend.
Despite the fact that her family is now shunned by neighbors superstitious that Sascha’s family tragedy might rub off on them, Sascha has big plans for her life. She believes these plans make her unique in Broken Glass Park, where most people’s dreams are either shallow or non-existent.
The opening lines of “Broken Glass Park” both summed up Sascha’s character perfectly and sucked me immediately into the book:
Sometimes I think I’m the only one in our neighborhood with any worthwhile dreams. I have two, and there’s no reason to be ashamed of either one. I want to kill Vadim. And I want to write a book about my mother. I already have a title: The Story of an Idiotic Redheaded Woman Who Would Still Be Alive If Only She Had Listened to Her Smart Oldest Daughter.
I loved “Broken Glass Park.” Translations can be awkward at times, if the translator isn’t well versed in idioms and nuances of both languages. Happily, that was not the case here. “Broken Glass Park” was both beautifully written and beautifully translated. Sascha was a compelling character, her murderous dreams not withstanding. Although she and I have very different backgrounds (and I have no plans to murder anyone), Bronsky and Mohr made Sascha absolutely real to me, and I empathized with her completely.
Sascha’s world was a difficult one, which meant that this was not always an easy book to read in terms of subject matter, but I also wasn’t able to put it down. This is my first book from Europa Editions and if they are all nearly this good, I can’t wait to read more. Highly recommended.
Note: There is some sex, drug use, and domestic violence.
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I definitely want to read more books published by Europa and this sounds like a good one.
I love Europa books — and, yes, this sounds great.
I love it that you say you could still feel for the character. I need that, even if the main character is someone so vastly different from me people would think we weren’t the same species. And that is a difficult thing for a writer to pull off.
I agree-it is hard to find a good translation that isn’t hard to follow at points. Thanks for pointing me in the direction of a good one.
This sounds great, thanks for the review! Definitely going on the wish list…
I started this and had to set it aside for a review book. Now I am all the more anxious to get back to it. Sascha is such a great character. I really like her voice and her strong presence. Like you said, she is such a compelling character.
You read alot of stories about kids with bad childhoods, but this one seems to stand out because of the girl’s attitude, and because of the setting. Great review!
“Broken Glass Park” is such a beautiful, haunting title.
Isn’t it? It comes from the actual park by their tenement building, which they call Broken Glass Park for the multitude of beer bottles, etc left there.
I’m glad to hear you liked this one…I have it sitting on my shelf with a few other Europas.
I haven’t heard of this book before. It sounds really interesting. I’ve read a few Europa books and really enjoyed them. I’ll have to add this to my wishlist.
I love it when a book hooks me right from the first paragraph like that. Of course, then it’s hard to keep my attention for an entire book at that level, but it sounds like this one may be able to do just that!
I got this one from the library today, glad you can recommend it
It´s so great Europa editions are bringing European lit to the English speaking world!