THE GARDENER AND DEATH

A touching story about the relationship between a father and son, shown against the background of an existential study of illness, passing away, and mourning. A novel that encourages reflection on transience and the value of life. A literary observation full of tenderness, which, despite the overwhelming burden of death, speaks primarily about what happens before it.

• First novel since receiving the International Booker Prize
• Father-son relationship shown through an existential study
• Taming sadness through literary observation
• Universal experience of the relationship between father and son
• Garden as an alternative world and medicine

Georgi, the narrator of the novel, accompanies his father in the last month of his life. He observes him, watches over him, aware of the inevitable end. He documents all the small and important events. He focuses in particular on his father's passion for plants, which, after fighting cancer a dozen years earlier, gave him new strength. The garden has become a place for him that keeps him alive, on the earth, becoming his alternative world and absolute medicine.

Gospodinov builds a story about the universal experience of the relationship between father and son through loose records of loss. Although it is a story about transience, the narrator looks further, examining generational dependencies and directing his attention to life. By telling the story, he tames sadness, creating a literary observation full of tenderness, which, despite the overwhelming burden of death, speaks primarily about what happens before it.

The Gardener and Death is a literary observation full of tenderness, which, despite the overwhelming burden of death, speaks primarily about what happens before it. It is a story about the power of life, about the passion that allows you to survive the most difficult moments, and about a relationship that remains unchanged, even in the face of death. This book is an invitation to reflect on your own life, on relationships with loved ones, and on what is really important.

Publication details:

Publisher: Literackie

Year of publication: 2025

Cover: hardcover

Number of pages: 232

Format: 201x135 mm