“‘The book’s sensual details have a relentless, offhand naturalness and authenticity… This work richly deserves the EU Prize for Literature, which it won… Laura Černiauskaitė could be a major talent of this generation.’ ”
Breathing into Marble
Laura Sintija Cerniauskaite
Translated from Lithuanian by Marija Marcinkute
Winner of the European Union Prize for Literature
When Isabel adopts a young orphan, she has no idea how dark the consequence will be.
Isabelle is married with a young epileptic son. Driven by a whim, she decides to adopt Ilya, despite the recommendations of specialists. Ilya is a troubled boy and the family quickly unravels under his malevolent influence.
Breathing into Marble is a poetic tale of love and violence, of art and relationships.
Laura Sintija Cerniauskaite
Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė was born in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1972. She studied Lithuanian language and literature at Vilnius University and became a journalist and an editor of a children’s magazine. In 1993 she won the Lithuanian Writer’s Union First Book competition. She is also a playwright and her plays have won awards in Lithuania and Germany.
Breathing into Marble won the EU Prize for Literature in 2009.