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SHADOW BEHIND THE SUN

Remzije Sherifi’s pilgrimage from nightmare

With an insightful Foreword by George Szirtes, this must go down as the most interesting and terrifying work of prose to emerge from the dark days of Milosevic.

Sherifi, a journalist in Kosova, recounts a history of the fate of her own family during the 1990s, Albanians in Kosova. The Milosevic regime almost did away with her; but she presents us here with an important series of questions, the book being much more than a family journal: in a world full of swathes of displaced people on the move - some coming to Britain and, as we know, to Ireland - how should we approach them?

In one of two interviews that round up the book, Dr Elinor Kelly remarks that “partnerships that have formed between churches and asylum seekers are strong . . .” Szirtes outlines a revealing trip he took to the region as a writer. Irish writers who refuse to become involved in politics of any kind would be advised not to read this book. Sherifi works with displaced Kosavars and others in Glasgow these days.

A genuinely heroic, startling, brave book and one’s hat is off to Scotland’s Sandstone for bringing it to us. Bookshops here should get copies at once.

Fred Johnston in Kiosque! (http://www.twwc.ie) Galway