Description
Description
A woman disappears after a beach party, and the search for her reveals Croatia's complex history well beyond the fall of Communism.
Called The Mediterranean Flower for its beauty, Split has a complex history that is perhaps best explored within a mystery. In 1989, beautiful Silva doesn't come home. Young cop Gorki Sain discovers that she isn't what she seemed--she dabbled in drugs and dealt in heroin. But Gorki soon finds himself out of a job as Yugoslavia plunges into a fratricidal war. Silva's brother stubbornly continues the search amid the upheavals of Croatian society, from the fall of communism through the 1991-1995 war. The former cop returns to solve the 30-year-old mystery in a different role, one less than ethically tied to toxic land speculation and corruption that comes with the tourist boom on the Dalmatian Coast.
"This finely engineered, haunting novel has been deservedly garlanded with awards." ---Financial Times
"A brilliant cocktail of mystery and recent history, compellingly told."--Kirkus
"The best crime fiction of 2025 so far: In this outstanding novel, Jurica Pavicic uses the unsolved disappearance of a teenage girl, Silva, to document the impact of the Yugoslav civil war." --Times/Sunday Times
About the Author
About the Author
Author Jurica Paviฤic is a Croatian writer, scriptwriter, and journalist. Born in 1965 and living in Split, Croatia, he has written seven novels, two collections of short stories, and essays on film, Dalmatia, and the Mediterranean world. His work has been translated into five languages, but Red Water is his first novel to be translated into English.
Translator Matt Robinson, born in the UK in 1978, moved to Belgrade in 2000 and worked as a foreign correspondent for Reuters. He now lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia, working as a freelance editor and literary translator. Red Water is the second novel he has translated.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"A brilliant cocktail of mystery and recent history, compellingly told." Kirkus
"A masterpiece!" Libรฉration
"As inspiring as the Swedes Maj Sjรถwall and Per Wahlรถรถ. Paviฤic brilliantly resorts to the noir novel to accompany ordinary lives caught in the collapse of communism, the rise of nationalism and the shock of wars." Le Monde
"The city of Split is more than a setting, almost a character. A tourist mirage in the summer, the Croatian port is confronted, out of season, with the aftermath of war, deindustrialization, and all kinds of depravity. Beyond the family drama and the police investigation, the metamorphosis of Croatia interests Paviฤic." Telerama
"Paviฤic superimpose a family drama and an outstanding, skilful historical fresco, while never, not even for a second, sacrificing the suspense of a good crime novel... Remarkable book." Le Figaro"Existentialist crime novel? It's an Adriatic blues."--Le Nouvel ObservateurThis finely engineered, haunting novel has been deservedly garlanded with awards." ---Financial Times"The best crime fiction of 2025 so far -- our critics' top new books for May. In 1989, Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, but the villages of the Dalmatian coast, with their spectacular beaches, were about to be drawn into civil war. In this outstanding novel, Jurica Pavicic uses the unsolved disappearance of a teenage girl, Silva, to document the impact of the conflict.--Times/ Sunday Times"Memorable for its psychological insights, moral weight, and Tolstoyian quality (without the length). This is the only one of his nine novels I have read. His work deserves translation." The Critic
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
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