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The Three-Arched Bridge

The Three-Arched Bridge

Summary

A hard-hitting parable about the conflicts that have ravaged the Balkan states, by Albania’s most influential novelist.

When the construction of a bridge built to link the Balkans to Europe is repeatedly and mysteriously sabotaged, an old ballad starts making the rounds at local taverns. The bards sing of a legend – a woman immured in a castle wall to prevent it from falling. Some say the bridge is being damaged by local ferrymen, others blame the vengeful water spirits. But this is a town where terror and superstition reign and a solution must be reached. So it is decreed: a willing person must be plastered into the bridge…

‘A vivid, macabre and wise novel’ New York Times

Reviews

  • A vivid, macabre and wise novel
    New York Times

About the author

Ismail Kadare

Ismail Kadare (1936–2024) is Albania's best-known novelist and poet. Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. He was awarded the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005, the Jerusalem Prize in 2015, the Park Kyong-ni Prize in 2019 and the Neustadt Prize in 2020.
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