Death and the Gardener

Description

“My father was a gardener. Now he is a garden.”

A man named Georgi sits patiently by his father’s bedside, until a final winter morning.

Navigating a season of grief, Georgi parses through the endless stories his father used to tell, and the history of his whole generation–boys born in Bulgaria at the end of the World War II, grown into men “often absent–clinging to the snorkel of a cigarette,” swimming in “other waters and clouds.” Out of a barren village yard, Georgi’s father created a special sanctuary: A lush garden where he would live on in the snowdrop sprouts and the first tulips of spring. But without him, Georgi’s past, with all its afternoons, begins to crack.

With striking acuity, Gospodinov explores the quiet rituals of mourning–how we tame sorrow through storytelling and guide a life through to its end. Spanning from ancient Ithaca to present-day Sofia, the novel draws connections between myth and memory, place and emotion. Full of light and unflinching humor, and masterfully translated by Angela Rodel, Death and the Gardener is another profoundly moving work from “one of Europe’s most fascinating and irreplaceable novelists” (Dave Eggers).

Binding Type: Hardcover
Contributors: Georgi Gospodinov,Angela Rodel (Translator)
Published: 10/07/2025
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
ISBN: 9781324097297
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 1.00″ H x 8.40″ L x 5.60″ W

About the Author
Gospodinov, Georgi: – Georgi Gospodinov is the recipient of the International Booker Prize and the Premio Strega, among many other accolades. He lives in Sofia, Bulgaria.Rodel, Angela: – Angela Rodel won the International Booker for translation and has received honors such as the PEN Translation Fund Grant. She lives in Sofia.