Broken Glass Park: Summary and book reviews of Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky, plus links to an excerpt from Broken Glass Park and a biography of Alina Bronsky.
Broken Glass Park
by Alina Bronsky
Paperback: Mar 2010,
366 pages.
The heroine of this engrossing and thoroughly contemporary novel is seventeen-year-old Sascha Naimann. Sascha was born in Moscow, but now lives in Berlin with her two younger siblings and, until recently, her mother. She is precocious, independent, street-wise, and, since her stepfather murdered her mother several months ago, an orphan.
Unlike most of her companions, she doesn’t dream of escaping from the tough housing project where they live. Sascha’s dreams are different: she longs to write a novel about her beautiful but naïve mother and she wants to end the life of Vadim, the man who brutally murdered her.
Sascha’s story, as touching as any in recent literature, is that of a young woman consumed by two competing impulses, one celebrative and redemptive, the other murderous. In a voice that is candid and self-confident, at times childlike and at others all too mature, Sascha relates the universal and timeless struggle between those forces that can destroy us, and those that lead us back from sorrow and pain to life itself.
Germany’s Freundin Magazine called Broken Glass Park “a gripping portrayal of life on the margins of society.” But Sascha’s story does not remain on the margins; it goes straight to the heart of what it means to be young, alive, and conscious in these first decades of the new century.
Alina Bronsky's Broken Glass Park is one of the most thought-provoking works of literature I've read in a long time, and with her remarkable ability to communicate emotion with precision and intent, Bronsky creates just that - literature... Throughout the entire novel, there are no wasted words in Bronsky's writing and her dialogue is both poignant and raw. I am so delighted that this book was translated into English (from the German) and with such a strong debut, I'm looking forward to what Alina Bronsky comes up with next. (Reviewed by Elena Spagnolie).
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Crisp writing, Sascha's smart and believable voice, and a fabulous translation all make the book vibrant... I highly recommend Broken Glass Park.
Kirkus Reviews
A lively debut novel with a cheerfully cynical narrator...a touching story, both tough and tender.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. [A] riveting debut ... a stark, moving tale of resiliency and survival.
Library Journal
Starred Review. This is the kind of book one expects to see on high school reading lists. It faces difficult issues head-on, and its edginess will appeal to teens.
Kölner Stadtrevue
Surprising, poetic, extremely well-crafted ... recalls the narrative art of Zadie Smith.
Der Spiegel
The most exciting new arrival of the season.
Modern Zeiten
Youthful, fast-paced, at times sad, never sugarcoated. Broken Glass Park tells the story of a marvelous reawakening.
Focus (Germany)
The literature industry has a new prodigy! Bronsky is an immense talent
The Ingeborg Bachmann Prize
Alina Bronsky's debut novel Broken Glass Park was originally published in 2008 by Kiepenheuer & Witsch under the German title Scherbenpark. It was immediately well received and nominated for one of Europe's most prestigious literary awards, the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize.
The Ingeborg Bachmann Prize is named after the beloved Austrian poet and author,
Ingeborg Bachmann (1926-1973) who is known internationally for her works Der gute Gott von Manhattan, a radio play, and Malina, a novel. She is recognized as a "woman of letters" as she studied philosophy, German language & literature and psychology, and was a member of the Gruppe 47 a literary association that included Heinrich Böll, Paul Celan, and Günter Grass.
The prize has been awarded annually since 1977 in Klagenfurt, Austria, and is considered, along with the Joseph Breitbach Prize and the Georg...
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Kirkus Reviews
Ingeborg Bachmann (1926-1973) who is known internationally for her works Der gute Gott von Manhattan, a radio play, and Malina, a novel. She is recognized as a "woman of letters" as she studied philosophy, German language & literature and psychology, and was a member of the Gruppe 47 a literary association that included Heinrich Böll, Paul Celan, and Günter Grass. 
