Lead Review (Slanting Towards the Sea)
- Book: Slanting Towards the Sea
- Location: Zadar
- Author: Lidija Hilje
A Marie-Claire UK Best New Book for August 2025.
This came highly recommended from two people, who have the inside track in the book world (Twitter X handles: SwirlandThread and YearsOfReading) and I trust their judgement. This is one of those “under the radar” titles that deserves a wide readership.
At the heart is the relationship between Ivona and Vlaho, trawling back to when they meet at University, and moving forward into the years of marriage and beyond. The relationship is poignantly depicted until they hit a crisis, engineered largely by Vlaho’s mother; Ivona chooses a new path in life and wants a separation.
Ivona’s sense of attachment, however, is strong, and once Vlaho embarks on a new relationship, she is still part of the set-up because his new partner is a friend of hers. The couple goes to some length to include her and the boundary setting feels unhealthy. Ivona is very happy to be included as part of their family.
Ivona is also looking after her father, who is quite ill and they have a plot of land in the family, comprising dwellings and a large olive grove, which is being threatened with foreclosure. An investor, Asier, arrives on the scene and he appears to offer a solution to their current problems, however her attachment to the olive grove almost scuppers the deal. The gnarled beauty of the trees and Ivona’s emotional involvement, attachment and passion when it comes to the plot are beautifully evoked throughout the story. She then finds herself drawn to Asier, and, of course, the slur of potential corruption around the deal becomes apparent.
There is loss throughout and the author eloquently describes the impact of loss on the people in the story, adding to the very human element of the story that is at the heart of the novel. She also eloquently looks at the notion of ‘attachment’. This is, in part, a coming-of-age story set against the background of a very ‘new’ country, as it was emerging from former Yugoslavia (1991) and the dealing with the legacy of the horrors of the recent war in the region.
The reader is escorted around the country from Zagreb, Zadar, Cavtat and Dubrovnik in the very capable hands of the author, and I think if you are heading to Croatia any time soon, this would be a very good choice to get a feel for the people and the country – all within a well-penned storyline.
I very much like the cover although I am at a loss to understand why the designer chose to underline the author’s name – at a glance, it looks like her name is crossed out.
Highly recommended.
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