Free: Coming of Age at the End of History or Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History is a 2021 book by Lea Ypi published by Penguin Books. In the book, Ypi details her experience growing up before and after the fall of communism in Albania.
Reception
Free was shortlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize and the 2021 Costa Book Award for biography. In January 2022, BBC Radio 4 serialised the book in their Book of the Week series.
Free won the Ondaatje Prize, the Slightly Foxed First Biography Prize, the Lumo Skëndo Prize for the Best Work in Albanian Nonfiction, and the Ridenhour Book Prize for Truth Telling.
10,000 copies of the book were sold in November 2021.
Ed O'Loughlin praised Ypi's use of subtext in the work. A vocal minority of Albanian critics of the book have accused it of being communist apologia, an accusation that Ypi has denied, and the Guardian has described as âÂÂmistakenâÂÂ.
Translations
- Albanian: Të lirë. Të rritesh në fund të historisë. Translated by Lea Ypi. Botimet Dudaj. 2021. .
- Danish: Fri. at blive voksen ved historiens afslutning. Translated by Steffen Rayburn-Maarup. 2021. .
- Dutch: Vrij. Opgroeien aan het einde van de geschiedenis. Translated by Luud Dorresteyn. 2021. .
- Icelandic: Frjáls: ÃÂska àskugga járntjaldsins. Translated by ÃÂslenskar bækur, ÃÂvisögur - þýddar. 2022. .
- Italian: Libera. Diventare grandi alla fine della storia. Translated by Elena Cantoni. Feltrinelli. 2022. .
- French: Enfin libre. Grandir quand tout s'écroule. Translated by Emmanuelle Aronson and Philippe Aronson. Seuil. 2022. .
- Polish: Wolna. DzieciÃ
Âstwo i koniec Ã
Âwiata w Albanii. Translated by Wydawnictwo Czarne. Wydawnictwo Czarne. 2022. .
- Portuguese: Livre. Virando adulta no fim da história. Translation by Pedro Maia Soares. Todavia. 2022. .
- Swedish: Fri. En uppväxt vid historiens slut. Translated by Amanda Svensson. Albert Bonniers Förlag. 2022. .
- Greek: ÃÂûõÃÂøõÃÂ÷. üõóñûÃÂýÿýÃÂñàÃÂÃÂÿ ÃÂÃÂûÿàÃÂ÷àùÃÂÃÂÿÃÂïñÃÂ. Translated by AntÃ
ÂnÃÂs KalokyrÃÂs. Ekdoseis PatakÃÂ. 2022. .
- German: Frei. Erwachsenwerden am Ende der Geschichte. Translated by Eva Bonné. Surkamp. 2023. .
- Norwegian: Fri. En oppvekst ved historiens ende. Translated by Inger Sverreson Holmes. Gyldendal. 2023. .
- Chinese: èªç±ï¼Âå¨æÂ·å²ç¡é Âé·大æÂÂ人. Translated by è³´çÂÂ滿. æÂÂå ±æÂÂÃ¥ÂÂåºçÂÂ. 2023. .
- Bosnian: Slobodna - Odrastanje na kraju historije. Translated by Senada Kreso. Buybook. 2023. .
- Czech: Svobodná: jak jsem dospÃÂvala na konci dÃÂjin. Translated by Ester Ã
½antovska. Host. 2023. .
- Serbian: Slobodna. Odrastanje na kraju istorije. Translated by Ivan JankoviÃÂ. Geopolitika. 2023. .
- Spanish: Libre. El desafÃÂo de crecer en el fin de la historia. Translated by Cecilia Ceriani. Editorial Anagrama. 2023. .
- Turkish: ÃÂzgür - Her Sey Parcalanirken Büyümek. Translated by ðlknur ÃÂzdemir. Yapi Kredi Yayinlari YKY. 2023. .
- Romanian: LiberÃÂ. Un copil ÃÂi o ÃÂaràla sfârÃÂitul istoriei. Translated by Bertha Savu. PublishDrive. 2024. .
- Croatian: Slobodna: Odrastanje na kraju povijesti. Translated by Katarina PenÃÂer. Naklada OceanMore. 2025. .
- Slovak: Slobodná: Dospievanie na konci dejÃÂn. Translated by Ivana KrekáÃ
Âová. Absynt. 2025. .
References
External links