| Author | Gordana Kuić |
|---|---|
| Country | Yugoslavia |
| Language | Serbian Ladino |
| Genre | Historical |
| Publisher | 1986 {Vuk Karadžić Books} |
| Media type | Print, paper cover |
| Pages | 506 pp |
| ISBN | 978-86-7710-423-8 |
| OCLC | 69173162 |
| Followed by | The Blossom of Linden in the Balkans |
The Scent of Rain in the Balkans (Serbian: Мирис кише на Балкану, Miris Kiše na Balkanu) is a historical novel written by Gordana Kuić. The novel was published in 1986, becoming an instant bestseller.[1] It centers on the Salom family, most notably five sisters — Buka, Nina, Klara, Blanki and Riki. The novel was inspired by Kuić's mother Blanki Levi and her sisters.[2] The Scent of Rain in the Balkans follows the destinies of, not only Jews, but also Orthodox, Bosniaks and Catholics during two major historical events — World War I and World War II.
In his review of the novel, David Albahari wrote:
The Scent of Rain in the Balkans possesses all the characteristics of a good book. In her attempt to show the destiny of a Jewish family living on Bosnian soil, the author has gone much further: she shows that the inevitability of historical developments is inescapable; she paints history as a monster who continually returns in cycles, but also as a mad joker who is ready to change the colors at any moment. The novel is also a document of a world that no longer exists – the world of the Sephardic Jews of Sarajevo. Therefore, this novel is an important contribution to the rather meager Jewish literary output in Serbia, but grows beyond the boundaries of such a definition and undoubtedly takes a more general significance.[3]
The Scent of Rain in the Balkans has been adapted into a ballet, a play and a television series.
The novel describes the historic period in the Balkans from the beginning of World War I in 1914, to the end of World War II in 1945 through the lives and destinies of the Saloms, a Sephardic Jewish family from Sarajevo. The leading characters are the five courageous Salom sisters whose struggle to fulfil personal desires and aspirations run contrary to the strict conventions of the multicultural and religious societies — Bosnian Jew, Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic — of the time, living side by side in the small town of Sarajevo.
The Scent of Rain in the Balkans is written in Serbian language, with some parts in Ladino, the language of Sephardi. It is divided in thirteen parts — 28 June 1914 (28. jun 1914), A Flight to Unknown (Let u nepoznato), Linden, the Tree of Old Slavs (Lipa, drvo starih Slovena), Time for Decisions (Vreme za odluke), Toboggan (Tobogan), When a Day Turns Cold and the Shadows Are Gone (Kad zahladni dan i senke odu), The End of One Age (Kraj jednog vremena), A Critic Point (Kritična tačka), Runaways (Bežanja), Paper Jesters (Papirni pajaci), A New Life (Novi život), Lasting (Trajanje) and Epilogue (Epilog).
In 1992, ballet by Croatian composer Igor Kuljerić The Scent of Rain in the Balkans – a Ballet for Riki premiered in Sarajevo, and then a week after in Belgrade.[4] In 2009, screenwriter Nebojša Romčević wrote a stage adaptation of the novel that premiered on 12 April 2009 in the Madlenianum Opera and Theatre, starring Sloboda Mićalović and Vuk Kostić.[5] In 2010, Ljubiša Samardžić directed the television adaptation of the novel, which was shown on the RTS.[6]