Wild Tales

Haitov's tales are set in the small villages of the Rhodope Mountains in south-east Bulgaria, one of the most remote corners of Europe. They are related in a robust, down-to-earth style by a series of finely realized narrators, most of whom look back to the ea rly years of this century and beyond, when brides were stolen and bandits roamed the hills. These men – shepherds, shoemakers, coopers and foresters –speak to the reader directly, involving him in their triumphs, their disappointments...