Misinterpretation

(Paperback)

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There was a unicycle hanging from a metal rack, its lemon-coloured wheel hovering above my head. The last thing I remembered was that party in Manhattan, somewhere in the West Village, drinking odd-looking cocktails and eating walnut cookies . . . Everything seemed vague.

In New York City, an Albanian interpreter cannot help but become entangled in her clients' struggles, despite her husband's cautions. When she reluctantly agrees to work with Alfred, a Kosovar torture survivor, during his therapy sessions, his nightmares stir up her own buried memories; while an impulsive attempt to help a Kurdish poet leads to a risky encounter and a reckless plan.

As ill-fated decisions stack up, jeopardising the nameless narrator's marriage and mental health, she takes a spontaneous trip to reunite with her mother in Albania, where her life in the United States is put into stark relief. When she returns to face the consequences of her actions, she must question what is real and what is not.

Ruminative and propulsive, Misinterpretation interrogates the darker legacies of family and country, and the boundary between compassion and self-preservation.

Reviews

'Absolutely gorgeous. Taut as a thriller, lovely as a watercolour.' Jennifer Croft
'Deft and insightful . . . exceptional.' Idra Novey
'Xhoga interprets our brave, new multicultural world with a sly, benign wit. Read her novel. You'll be glad you did.' Tom Grimes
'Hauntingly realistic . . . strange, obsessive.' Elisa Shua Dusapin
'A heart-stopping, emotional thriller . . . Violence hovers in the book's borders. I loved it.' Rita Bullwinkel
'Compelling, startling, original.' Priscilla Morris

Author Bio

Ledia Xhoga was born and raised in Tirana, Albania and currently lives in Brooklyn. Her debut novel Misinterpretation was the winner of the New York City Book Award for outstanding debut author, Finalist for the Center For Fiction First Novel Prize and a Best of 2024 Book by Debutiful. Her work has been published in Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Brooklyn Rail, Large Hearted Boy, Intrepid Times, Hobart and other journals.