• Publisher: Beletrina
• 409 pages
• Author: Mojca Kumerdej
• Original title: Kronosova žetev

The Harvest of Chronos looks at Central Europe, the Inner Austrian lands, modern-day Slovenian territory, an area plagued by ceaseless battles for supremacy between the Protestant political elite and the ruling Catholic Habsburg Monarchy. The battles for supremacy are fought among the rulers and between the rulers and the people. In this epic saga, history and fiction intertwine in wavelike fashion, producing a colourful portrait of the Ren- aissance, permeated by humanist attempts to resurrect antiquity through art, new scientific findings, and spirited philosophical and theological de- bates. This was a time of intrigues, accusations of heresy, political betrayal and burnings at the stake, an age that produced executioners, scapegoats brought to the sacrificial altar in the name of God, the sover-

eign or the common good, and extraordinary individuals who dared to oppose the dominant beliefs of the masses and be- lieve in a new order.

In a language that is deliciously rich and slightly elevated, at times deliberately archaic but always imbued with humour, the novel tackles superstition, false beliefs and selective mem- ory as well as the questions of God, of being and of nothing- ness.

About the author

Mojca Kumerdej

Mojca Kumerdej (1964) is an award-winning writer and philos- opher. She also works as a critic, covering dance, performance and intermedia arts. Her first novel, Baptism above Triglav (Krst nad Triglavom, 2001), was an ironic look at Slovenian cultural and literary traditions. Her two collections of short prose, Fragma (2003) and Dark Matter (Temna snov, 2011), show an utterly original world, one that derives from the inner corners of contemporary society. Her latest novel, The Harvest of Chronos (Kro- nosova žetev, 2016) is a picturesque portrait of the 16th century, which won her the Kritiško sito Award for best book of the year awarded by the Slovenian Literary Critics’ Association and the Prešeren Fund Award, Slovenia’s highest award for artistic achievement, and was also shortlisted for the Kresnik Award for best novel of the year. Her prose has been translated into over ten languages and included in various anthologies at home and abroad.