The Wolves of Staro Selo by Zdravka Evtimova

Translated by Yana Ellis

Having read and enjoyed Abandonment by Erminia Dell’Oro earlier this year, I’ve been keen to read more titles from Héloïse Press, an indie based in Canterbury that specialises in female narratives from around the world. This is the first novel by a Bulgarian author that I’ve read, but Evtimova has been published widely, including several in English translation by Fomite Press. When I spotted this title in a recent mailing of highlights from the Indie Press Network, I was immediately drawn to it. The cover of an old woman mixing herbs recalled Janina in Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Bones…. Both novels have a rural village setting, both have incredibly ornery women at their core, but otherwise they are very different. As the story begins, we’re introduced to Elena Damyanov through the eyes of her granddaughter Damyana…

‘Leave,’ Grandma Elena told my mother.
‘I’ll leave but your son will buy cockroach poison. And take it.’
‘Entirely his business,’ snapped Grandma.
Grandma Elena’s son is my father.
Grandma Elena is like that, doesn’t talk idle talk. She picked up the poker, the one she sometimes uses to threaten our dog Gasho, my best friend, but which more often strolled with her at night around the cherry orchard where it brought thieves to their senses.
Would it bring my mum to her senses now?
Who’s that venomous woman dragging frost under her skirts and poisoning the melon fields? the people of Staro Selo asked about Grandma Elena. As if they didn’t know. They had decided long ago to break her.

Led by Ginger Dimitar, who Siyana (a maths teacher), Damyana’s mum has moved in with, a group of men move on Elena’s precious cherry orchard – the first time they are repelled by her poker, but will return for vengeance. This is the opposite of Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard where the orchard is sold and felled to make ends meet. Essentially, the whole novel is a battle between Elena and Ginger, as her son Christo is away working in Spain, oblivious of Siyana having left him at first. Mostly it is narrated by Damyana who is being taught the art of herbalism and healing by her grandmother; the villagers worry that she’ll turn out like Elena. The town may not like Elena, but they don’t hesitate to ask for her help when people are ill, including Ginger and his cronies – or rather their families, as it’s usually Ginger and his cronies that need help.

Ginger Dimitar is the archetypal small town bully, common to stories of this type, and he can’t let Elena beat him. Elena is the archetypal wise woman healer. The sparks fly throughout the novel, and in between, we hear from the lovelorn Christo, rueing the day his wife left him. Damyana is often left to her own devices, except when Elena makes her read a few pages from PIppi Longstocking, having few friends in the village. We gradually get to know the three generations of the Damyanov family, and we hope for resolution of the Ginger problem.

Evtimova’s style is complex. Damyana may be our main narrator, but the main voice of the text flits between people with no notice, sometimes as a chorus of villagers, it can be a little difficult to keep up. Staro Selo is an economically deprived area, hence the black market and crime thriving – allowing people like Ginger to dominate. We get a good sense of that. The little town feels behind the times, modern life rarely intrudes – except the currency of big Jeeps seems to be the byword for luxury. Occasionally, we take a detour, like when we meet Siyana’s mother Marietta, who had single-mindedly set out to seduce the richest man around, divorce him and get his apartment – you get the picture. Poor Christo writes letters to Siyana from abroad, but they’re only in his head, she’ll never read them. He is the most soft-hearted character of them all.

The Wolves of Staro Selo is definitely an episodic narrative with some powerful scenes between the main characters, and we cheer on Elena and Damyana every step of the way. An engrossing read indeed.

Source: Review copy – thank you! Héloïse Press, paperback original, 295 pages. BUY at Blackwell’s via my affiliate link (free UK P&P)