About the Book
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Overview:
A multi-genre take on Europe's poorest country, prior to Albania's current status as a trendy tourist destination. Combining historical fiction and family dynamics, That Weekend in Albania is a travelogue / thriller, exploring cultural confrontation in the Balkans. The text has been likened to Swiss Family Robinson meets James Bond. Synopsis: In 2001, two months after 9/11, an expatriate family takes a weekend road trip to Butrint, a multi-civilization ruin near Albania's southern border with Greece. Having experienced Stalinism at its worst, Europe’s only Muslim country is experimenting with ‘capitalism’', clashing with the family’s expectation of a Mediterranean lifestyle. Background: After 45 years of closed borders, murder and starvation, Albanian Stalinism ended in 1991. In transitioning to a market economy, the new government mistakenly endorsed pyramid schemes: two-thirds of the population invested, losing $1.2 billion by 1997. Rioting destroyed the country's infrastructure, leading to a stateless society. In early 1999, the Yugoslav War spilled from Kosovo into Albania until the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe allowed democratic elections to be held. |
reviews
"A comfortable combo of travelogue, expat family life and a thriller subplot."
4 stars Verified UK purchaser on Amazon
“a travelogue, historical journey…an exploration of family dynamics… the text falling between Swiss Family Robinson and James Bond … can carry readers through the complex history in this little-known part of the world” -
-Carmen A. Pearson
"A thoroughly researched and well-written work of travel fiction...that presents this fascinating Balkan country through two perspectives-an ex-pat family's, and...entrepreneurs trying to create prosperity in a post-Communist world. The family must cope with issues such as midlife crisis and parent-child relations in a context of culture shock, separation, language barriers and an unfamiliar environment. The businessmen do not hesitate to use questionable means to achieve their ends, within a framework of recent conflict and ancient loyalties. Several thriller-like episodes...furnish jolts of excitement. This book is an interesting and informative vicarious journey through a new and unfamiliar country."
Audrey Driscoll, author of The Herbert West Series.
goodreads.com/book/show/31332648-that-weekend-in-albania?ac=1&from_search=true
4 stars Verified UK purchaser on Amazon
“a travelogue, historical journey…an exploration of family dynamics… the text falling between Swiss Family Robinson and James Bond … can carry readers through the complex history in this little-known part of the world” -
-Carmen A. Pearson
"A thoroughly researched and well-written work of travel fiction...that presents this fascinating Balkan country through two perspectives-an ex-pat family's, and...entrepreneurs trying to create prosperity in a post-Communist world. The family must cope with issues such as midlife crisis and parent-child relations in a context of culture shock, separation, language barriers and an unfamiliar environment. The businessmen do not hesitate to use questionable means to achieve their ends, within a framework of recent conflict and ancient loyalties. Several thriller-like episodes...furnish jolts of excitement. This book is an interesting and informative vicarious journey through a new and unfamiliar country."
Audrey Driscoll, author of The Herbert West Series.
goodreads.com/book/show/31332648-that-weekend-in-albania?ac=1&from_search=true
