The Scent of Rain in the Balkans


The Scent of Rain in the Balkans is a historical novel written by Gordana Kuić. The novel was published in 1986, becoming an instant bestseller. It centers on the Salom family, most notably five sisters — Buka, Nina, Klara, Blanki and Riki. The novel was inspired by Kuić's mother Blanki Levi and her sisters. The Scent of Rain in the Balkans follows the destinies of, not only Jews, but also Orthodox, Bosniaks and Catholics during two major historical events — World War I and World War II.
In his review of the novel, David Albahari wrote:
The Scent of Rain in the Balkans has been adapted into a ballet, a play and a television series.

Plot

The novel describes the historic period in the Balkans from the beginning of World War I in 1914, to the end of World War II in 1945 through the lives and destinies of the Saloms, a Sephardic Jewish family from Sarajevo. The leading characters are the five courageous Salom sisters whose struggle to fulfil personal desires and aspirations run contrary to the strict conventions of the multicultural and religious societies — Bosnian Jew, Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic — of the time, living side by side in the small town of Sarajevo.

Characters

The Salom family

The Scent of Rain in the Balkans is written in Serbo-Croatian language, with some parts in Ladino, the language of Sephardi. It is divided in thirteen parts — 28 June 1914, A Flight to Unknown, Linden, the Tree of Old Slavs, Time for Decisions, Toboggan, When a Day Turns Cold and the Shadows Are Gone, The End of One Age, A Critic Point, Runaways, Paper Jesters, A New Life, Lasting and Epilogue.

Awards

In 1992, ballet by Croatian composer Igor Kuljerić The Scent of Rain in the Balkans – a Ballet for Riki premiered in Sarajevo, and then a week after in Belgrade. In 2009, screenwriter Nebojša Romčević wrote a stage adaptation of the novel that premiered on 12 April 2009 in the Madlenianum Opera and Theatre, starring Sloboda Mićalović and Vuk Kostić. In 2010, Ljubiša Samardžić directed the television adaptation of the novel, which was shown on the RTS.