Petros Markaris
Athina, protiousa ton Balkanion

Published by Diogenes as Balkan Blues
English Title: Balkan Blues

Commissar Haritos would rather be out on the street with all the other Athenians, celebrating Greece’s victory in the European football championships. But he is otherwise engaged. Everywhere he looks, there’s something afoot – and even a detective of Haritos’ ilk cannot enforce the law everywhere. Most of the characters in these ten stories have to do that themselves – in their own way. They have come from the Balkans in search of a better life: of work, money, a little bit of luck. Hardly any of them dares to dream, however, of finding a new home. Certainly not the young girl who is dropped off in the park every morning and picked up again each evening. And yet she manages to do precisely that of which most of the adults are incapable – to make contact with a local. A xenophobic old man, in whom, in spite of all his bitterness, something has remained: curiosity. Unintentionally, he paves the way for the child’s integration into Greek society; which is not to say that everything is destined to turn out for the best. With a good dose of black humour and a complete lack of sentimentality, Petros Markaris paints the picture of a society in which the lines between good and evil, between justice and injustice, have become blurred. All that remains are people – left to fend for themselves.

QuotesShow all