Lana Bastasic

Sara left Bosnia years ago, finally settling in Dublin, and has succeeded in leaving her country thoroughly behind, cancelling all traces of it from herself and her life. Until she receives an unexpected phone call that undoes all her efforts. It's Lejla, Sara' best friend from childhood, whom she hasn't spoken to in twenty years. At Lejla's request, Sara drops everything and hurries back to Bosnia, embarking on a road trip across Europe to find Lejla's brother, Armin, who disappeared during the war and everyone else presumed dead.

During the journey, Sara is forced to confront her origins, her relationships (especially that with Lejla) and the past she so desperately tried to forget. The book is narrated by Sara herself, as if speaking with Lejla and alternates an account of their road trip with past episodes, slowly leading up to the events that led their friendship to fall apart. As a result, everything is filtered by Sara's perception, feelings, and faltering memory. Memories are notoriously unreliable, and Sara's is no exception. It becomes clear quite early on that she and Lejla have very different recollections of the same events, begging the question: where does the truth lie?

I was very much reminded of [a:Elena Ferrante|44085|Elena Ferrante|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png]'s books when reading Catch the Rabbit, both in the relationship between the two main characters (which strongly resembles that between Lenu and Lila) and the narration style, a game of mirrors where the truth is always hiding and individual desires shape the perception of reality. While I didn't particularly like Sara and Lejla as individuals, I did love them as characters. Both are deeply complex and masterfully drawn by the author, showing how the past influences present lives, expectations pollute relationships, and loss and trauma leave deep, often unhealing, wounds.

The writing is exceptional and the author did a wonderful job of translating her work into English. It's clear that every word has been pondered, every sentence expertly crafted, and nothing is left to chance. The circular structure of the book is highly original and clever indeed. It did leave me perplexed for a while when I reached the ending but, once I understood it, I definitely appreciated it. One negative aspect for me was that I struggled with certain passages throughout, and sometimes had to re-read them to ensure I had understood correctly, which slowed the pace for me and took me out of the story. The ending left me with just as many questions as I had at the beginning, and brought me to think about this book long after the final page had been turned.

Catch the Rabbit is a beautiful homage to Alice in Wonderland, where most things and words have multiple meanings, and truth and reality are as elusive as a white rabbit. Steeped in Balkan history and culture, this is a multilayered read touching on several themes, such as friendship, family, identity, diversity, loss, the effects of war and so many more besides - and I'm sure more still would emerge on a re-read. Well-suited to lovers of My Brilliant Friend and Balkan history and those who enjoy deep, complex and problematic characters.


I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.… (mere)

Sara, a Bosnian writer and poet, has settled down in Dublin, and has more or less succeeded in forgetting her past, her country of origin and the uncomfortable memories of a fractured, post-war state. One day, however, Sara receives an unexpected phone call from Lejla, the best friend with whom she shared her childhood and coming of age. Even though they have not spoken for twelve years, the voice of Lejla, the special friend with whom Sara shared her childhood and coming of age, draws her back to the Balkans. Lejla’s brother Armin, who disappeared during the atrocities of the Bosnian war, has reappeared in Vienna and Lejla wants her friend to drive her from Bosnia to the Austrian capital to track him down. But what exactly are the two friends looking for? Is it Armin, or is it, perhaps, a better understanding of their shared past?

Lana Bastašić’s debut novel, winner of the European Union Prize for Literature 2020, is being published in an English translation by the author herself. The novel’s title – Catch the Rabbit – is an homage to Lewis Carroll and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Like Alice’s surreal adventure underground, Bastašić creates a world which, although rooted in reality, is peopled by figures who are larger than life. Chief amongst these is Lejla, the real protagonist of this novel despite the fact that the narrator is Sara. The story does feature a real rabbit, which is a key element in Sara and Lejla’s shared memories. But it also serves as one of several narrative connections between Catch the Rabbit and Alice. Don’t expect, however, an entertaining children’s book. Like Carroll, Bastašić plays around with narrative logic but her themes and aims are dead serious. This is a novel around friendship along the divisive lines created by war, about adults rethinking and reinterpreting their childhood memories (and not necessarily liking what they find there). It is a book which can be uplifting, but which is equally painful in the realities it brings home to the narrator and, implicitly, the reader.

Indeed, if I have a reservation about this English edition, it is the cover. While it brings out nicely the novel’s more fantastical, psychedelic elements, its garish colours also hint at a light-hearted female buddy road novel. Catch the Rabbit is much darker than that.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2020/12/catch-the-rabbit-by-Lana-Bastasic.htm...… (mere)