Stork Mountain

Nostalgia and the search for his missing grandfather bring Penkov's unnamed narrator back to Bulgaria in search of answers. Kirby Heyborne narrates his journey with a feeling for its meaning and purpose. The journey takes us into the Strandja Mountains, between Bulgaria and Turkey. Heyborne's tender tone has an undercurrent of sadness, making the listener hope for the best but expect the worst. Heyborne is a good choice for the author's dense writing style as his use of emphasis and pauses help the listener follow the many complex sentences. This is a unique story, especially for those who are unfamiliar with this part of the world. M.R. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 21, 2015
This first novel from Penkov (author of the story collection East of the West) is about a boy who leaves America for the desolate borderlands of Bulgaria in search of his grandfather. Looking for a way to pay his debts, he returns to the village of Klisura, on the Bulgarian side of the Turkish border, to find out why his grandfather fled the U.S. and his family, and to claim an inheritance he believes is his. The young man discovers a place where exiled Christians dance on fire in honor of their saints, where Muslims were converted and given new names by a cynical Communist regime, and where storks come each spring to bear their own young in giant walnut trees. The village is steeped in mysteries and vendettas. The boy absorbs the folklore and also begins to glean his grandfather’s tragic involvement in Klisura’s troubled past, “like stepping stones that lead you to yourself.” The boy falls in love with Elif, the daughter of the local imam with whom Grandpa has a long-standing feud, meeting her in secret in a stork’s nest in the trees. He plots to save Elif from her abusive father, and to rescue Elif’s little sister, who is sick with a fever believed to be induced by the nestinari, the Christians who dance on fire. That the boy ends up finding himself within his grandfather’s story, among the gnarled and mystical roots growing out of ancient Christianity, Islam, and communism, is the great reward of this searing, heartfelt novel. This book is rich, enmeshing the personal with the political and historical, told in strange and vertiginous language that seems fitting for a tale of such passion. Agent: Nicole Aragi, Aragi Inc.