''Zoli'' is a novel by

Colum McCann Colum McCann is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and now lives in New York. He is a Thomas Hunter Writer in Residence at Hunter College, New York. McCann's work has been published in over 40 languages, and ...

. It follows the life of Marienka Novotna, nicknamed "Zoli", a Slovak

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

woman, from her childhood in the 1930s, through her exile in the 1950s, to her late adult life. Although Zoli is a fictional character, her life is loosely based on that of the Polish Romani poet Papusza (Bronisława Wajs). ''Zoli'' explores the persecution of the Roma faced during World War II, as well as the impact of totalitarianism on

Romani culture The Romani people are a distinct ethnic and cultural group of peoples living all across the globe, who share a family of languages and sometimes a traditional nomadic mode of life. Though their exact origins are unclear, central India is a not ...

and lifestyles and experiences of otherness and marginalisation faced by Romani people in Europe. The novel is written from multiple perspectives, that include both first and third person narration.

External links

Review of ''Zoli'' at Canada.com

Compilation of Newspaper reviews at ReviewsOfBooks.com

"Colum McCann's top 10 novels on poets"
''The Guardian'', 3 October 2006
Radio interview
Bookworm, 22 March 2007
Interview
The Morning News, 3 May 2007 2006 American novels Fictional representations of Romani people Irish-American novels Novels set in Europe Novels set during World War II {{2000s-WWII-novel-stub

See also

External links