Der Tod seiner großen Liebe, die er nicht zu retten vermag, treibt einen jungen kräuterkundigen Heiler fort aus seinem Dorf, um Vergessen und Vergebung zu finden. Auf seiner Wanderung durch das pestverseuchte Europa des 15. Jahrhunderts bietet er seine Heilkünste an, wo immer sie gebraucht werden.

Auf seiner Reise durch Welten und Zeiten begleiten ihn die unterschiedlichsten Weggefährten, und er muss zahlreiche Gefahren bestehen: Er wird von Wegelagerern überfallen, auf dem Balkan gelyncht, geht auf hoher See über Bord und erreicht schließlich Jerusalem. Doch die größte Herausforderung erwartet ihn noch.

Autorentext
Eugene Vodolazkin was born in Kiev and has worked in the department of Old Russian Literature at Pushkin House since 1990. He is an expert in medieval Russian history and folklore. Solovyov and Larionov is his debut novel. Laurus (Oneworld, 2015), his second novel but the first to be translated into English, won the National Big Book Award and the Leo Tolstoy Yasnaya Polyana Award and has been translated into eighteen languages. His third novel, The Aviator (Oneworld, 2018), was shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize and the National Big Book Award. He lives in St Petersburg.

Klappentext

WINNER OF THE BIG BOOK AWARD, THE LEO TOLSTOY YASNAYA POLYANA AWARD & THE READ RUSSIA AWARD

'THE MOST IMPORTANT LIVING RUSSIAN WRITER' New Yorker

A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016

Fifteenth-century Russia

It is a time of plague and pestilence, and a young healer, skilled in the art of herbs and remedies, finds himself overcome with grief and guilt when he fails to save the one he holds closest to his heart. Leaving behind his village, his possessions and his name, he sets out on a quest for redemption, penniless and alone. But this is no ordinary journey: wandering across plague-ridden Europe, offering his healing powers to all in need, he travels through ages and countries, encountering a rich tapestry of wayfarers along the way. Accosted by highwaymen, lynched in Yugoslavia and washed overboard at sea, he eventually reaches Jerusalem, only to find his greatest challenge is yet to come.

Winner of two of the biggest literary prizes in Russia, Laurus is a remarkably rich novel about the eternal themes of love, loss, self-sacrifice and faith, from one of the country’s most experimental and critically acclaimed novelists.

Zusammenfassung
For fans of The Name of the Rose comes this remarkable new award-winning novel from Russia