The Doll Read online

  Ismail Kadare: The Doll

  trans. John Hodgson

  Intan Paramaditha: The Wandering

  trans. Stephen J. Epstein

  Dima Wannous: The Frightened Ones

  trans. Elisabeth Jaquette

  Pauline Delabroy-Allard: All About Sarah

  trans. Adriana Hunter

  Jonas Hassen Khemiri: The Family Clause

  trans. Alice Menzies

  Paolo Cognetti: Without Ever Reaching the Summit

  trans. Stash Luczkiw

  Karl Ove Knausgaard: In the Land of the Cyclops

  trans. Martin Aitken

  Urs Faes: The Twelve Nights

  trans. Jamie Lee Searle

  Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o: The Perfect Nine

  trans. the author

  VINTAGE – home to the world’s greatest authors and books. Where new writers are discovered, bestselling books are found and yesterday’s classics revived for a new generation of readers.

  Our authors represent the very best in creativity and quality and have won the most prestigious prizes the book world has to offer including the Man Booker, the Samuel Johnson and the Nobel.

  Born in New York in 1974, and arriving in London in 1990, VINTAGE publishes beautiful books with the very best design for people who love to read.

  @vintagebooks

  penguin.co.uk/vintage

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  VINTAGE

  20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

  London SW1V 2SA

  Vintage is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

  Copyright © Librairie Arthème Fayard 2015

  English translation copyright © John Hodgson 2020

  Cover illustration from images © Getty Images

  Author photograph © Foley-Opale

  Ismail Kadare has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  First published by Harvill Secker in 2020

  First published by Onufri in Albania in 2015 with the title Kukulla

  penguin.co.uk/vintage

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

  ISBN 9781473560888