Pushkin Press publishes the world’s best stories, to be read and read again. To discover more, visit www.pushkinpress.com.
THE SPECTRE OF ALEXANDER WOLF
GAITO GAZDANOV
‘A mesmerising work of literature’ Antony Beevor
SUMMER BEFORE THE DARK
VOLKER WEIDERMANN
‘For such a slim book to convey with such poignancy the extinction of a generation of “Great Europeans” is a triumph’ Sunday Telegraph
MESSAGES FROM A LOST WORLD
STEFAN ZWEIG
‘At a time of monetary crisis and political disorder… Zweig’s celebration of the brotherhood of peoples reminds us that there is another way’ The Nation
THE EVENINGS
GERARD REVE
‘Not only a masterpiece but a cornerstone manqué of modern European literature’ Tim Parks, Guardian
BINOCULAR VISION
EDITH PEARLMAN
‘A genius of the short story’ Mark Lawson, Guardian
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE SEA
TOMÁS GONZÁLEZ
‘Smoothly intriguing narrative, with its touches of sinister, Patricia Highsmith-like menace’ Irish Times
BEWARE OF PITY
STEFAN ZWEIG
‘Zweig’s fictional masterpiece’ Guardian
THE ENCOUNTER
PETRU POPESCU
‘A book that suggests new ways of looking at the world and our place within it’ Sunday Telegraph
WAKE UP, SIR!
JONATHAN AMES
‘The novel is extremely funny but it is also sad and poignant, and almost incredibly clever’ Guardian
THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY
STEFAN ZWEIG
‘The World of Yesterday is one of the greatest memoirs of the twentieth century, as perfect in its evocation of the world Zweig loved, as it is in its portrayal of how that world was destroyed’ David Hare
WAKING LIONS
AYELET GUNDAR-GOSHEN
‘A literary thriller that is used as a vehicle to explore big moral issues. I loved everything about it’ Daily Mail
FOR A LITTLE WHILE
RICK BASS
‘Bass is, hands down, a master of the short form, creating in a few pages a natural world of mythic proportions’ New York Times Book Review
JOURNEY BY MOONLIGHT
ANTAL SZERB
‘Just divine… makes you imagine the author has had private access to your own soul’ Nicholas Lezard, Guardian
BEFORE THE FEAST
SAŠA STANIŠIĆ
‘Exceptional… cleverly done, and so mesmerising from the off… thought-provoking and energetic’ Big Issue
A SIMPLE STORY
LEILA GUERRIERO
‘An epic of noble proportions… [Guerriero] is a mistress of the telling phrase or the revealing detail’ Spectator
FORTUNES OF FRANCE
ROBERT MERLE
1 The Brethren
2 City of Wisdom and Blood
3 Heretic Dawn
‘Swashbuckling historical fiction’ Guardian
TRAVELLER OF THE CENTURY
ANDRÉS NEUMAN
‘A beautiful, accomplished noveclass="underline" as ambitious as it is generous, as moving as it is smart’ Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Guardian
A WORLD GONE MAD
ASTRID LINDGREN
‘A remarkable portrait of domestic life in a country maintaining a fragile peace while war raged all around’ New Statesman
MIRROR, SHOULDER, SIGNAL
DORTHE NORS
‘Dorthe Nors is fantastic!’ Junot Díaz
RED LOVE: THE STORY OF AN EAST GERMAN FAMILY
MAXIM LEO
‘Beautiful and supremely touching… an unbearably poignant description of a world that no longer exists’ Sunday Telegraph
THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT
HELEN PHILLIPS
‘Funny, sad, scary and beautiful. I love it’ Ursula K. Le Guin
THE RABBIT BACK LITERATURE SOCIETY
PASI ILMARI JÄÄSKELÄINEN
‘Wonderfully knotty… a very grown-up fantasy masquerading as quirky fable. Unexpected, thrilling and absurd’ Sunday Telegraph
BEAUTY IS A WOUND
EKA KURNIAWAN
‘An unforgettable all-encompassing epic’ Publishers Weekly
BARCELONA SHADOWS
MARC PASTOR
‘As gruesome as it is gripping… the writing is extraordinarily vivid… Highly recommended’ Independent
MEMORIES—FROM MOSCOW TO THE BLACK SEA
TEFFI
‘Wonderfully idiosyncratic, coolly heartfelt and memorable’ William Boyd, Sunday Times
WHILE THE GODS WERE SLEEPING
ERWIN MORTIER
‘A monumental, phenomenal book’ De Morgen
BUTTERFLIES IN NOVEMBER
AUÐUR AVA ÓLAFSDÓTTIR
‘A funny, moving and occasionally bizarre exploration of life’s upheavals and reversals’ Financial Times
BY BLOOD
ELLEN ULLMAN
‘Delicious and intriguing’ Daily Telegraph
THE LAST DAYS
LAURENT SEKSIK
‘Mesmerising… Seksik’s portrait of Zweig’s final months is dignified and tender’ Financial Times
COPYRIGHT
Pushkin Press
71–75 Shelton Street
London, WC2H 9JQ
Original text © Eva Meijer 2016
English translation © Antoinette Fawcett 2018
Bird Cottage was first published as Het Vogelhuis in Amsterdam, 2016
First published by Pushkin Press in 2018
This publication has been made possible with financial support from the Dutch Foundation for Literature
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
ISBN 13: 978 1 78227 396 7
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Pushkin Press