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| Nino Haratischvili |
Nino Haratischvili: 'I never understood how Georgians could be proud of Stalin'
At 936 pages, The Eighth Life is the novelist’s first book to address her nation’s history. She explains why ‘the Georgian War and Peace’ is not yet complete
Matthew Janet
Thursday 21 November 2019
People are starting to realise that in return for the sovereignty they so desperately wanted, they’ll have to change their lifestyle,” says one character in Nino Haratischvili’s third and latest novel, The Eighth Life. You could be forgiven for believing this is a dig at Britain’s present moment. In fact, the year is 1991, the country, Georgia, and the scene, the turbulent aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was a time of civil war: Soviet loyalists and Georgian nationalists were at loggerheads over the direction of the country; uprisings in the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia were being backed by Russia; the first leader of the newly independent Georgia was forced to flee. The rule of law had been all but abandoned: shootings in broad daylight and overnight queues for bread were everyday events.
