She Who Remains /Остайница - издание на английски език/

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2026

High in the Accursed Mountains, in a village ruled by the ancient laws of the Kanun, Bekija escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a sworn virgin, renouncing her womanhood to live as a man. Her decision sets off a brutal chain of events, destroying her

family and separating her from the one she loves most. Years later, as Bekija - now Matija - tells their story to a visiting journalist, long-buried truths come to light, along with the realization of all that might have been.

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'She Who Remains' reads like a dark fairy tale from a time when life was lived closer to the bone... Bold and visionary, Karabash’s novel unfurls a world of blood feuds and sworn virgins - women accepted into society as men - in a dreamlike narration that burns up the page with feverish urgency.'

- Katrina Dodson

'She Who Remains' is a meditation on womanhood, love, family and honor, written almost entirely in a non-linear stream of consciousness. The primary setting is a remote village in the Albanian mountains still ruled by the Kanun where a woman’s worth is measured in oxen while men settle scores with shotguns. Bekija, whose gender fluidity is rooted deep into her being, is secretly in love with a Bulgarian girl, but is arranged to marry a man. Her only way of escaping the marriage is to take a vow of chastity and become a man in the eyes of the law – a so-called sworn virgin. In a matter of hours, Bekija becomes Matija. However, Bekija isn’t the only person to disappear — her decision to call off the wedding destroys her family. The text is deliberately ambiguous, possessing a fluidity at the line level which underscores the all-at-onceness of Bekija/Matija’s identity. This is a powerful, lyrical work that approaches the concept of gender in visceral, almost primal ways and inevitably discusses the consequences, stemming from deeply-rooted patriarchal traditions.

– Izidora Angel

The foreign literature specialist.

- The Sunday Times

A class act.

- The Guardian

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„Остайница“ на българската писателка и поетеса Рене Карабаш - книгата, номинирана в краткия списък на Международен „Букър“ за 2026 г., с ново, англоезично издание