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Author: Kassabova, Kapka

Southeast Europe

Published on 11 July 2024 by Vintage Publishing (Jonathan Cape Ltd) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 384 pages
241 x 161 x 34 | 600g

‘A classic in the making for our times’ MONIQUE ROFFEY‘Haunting, beautiful…Anima will live with me for a long time’ CAL FLYN‘A beautiful book of passion and adventure… She is simply sublime’ HORATIO CLAREThe spellbinding new book by the prizewinning writer Kapka Kassabova tells the story of her time with the last moving pastoralists in Europe: a gripping portrayal of human-animal interdependence, and a plea for a different way of living.

Living with one of these communities over the course of one summer, Kassabova experiences the intensity, brutality, beauty and isolation of their existence. She witnesses the epic, orchestrated activity of transhumance – the seasonal movement of vast herds of sheep, along with shepherds and dogs. As she becomes attuned to the sacrifices inherent in this work and the rich histories that shaped this Balkan region, Kassabova finds herself drawn deeper into the tangled relationships at the heart of the small community.

Anima is an extraordinary portrayal of pastoral life, where humans and animals exist in profound interdependence. Kassabova conjures the spirit of this remarkable place with intimacy and empathy, and helps us imagine how we might all begin to heal our broken relationship with the natural world.