''The Scent of Rain in the Balkans'' (, ) is a

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

written by Gordana Kuić. The novel was published in 1986, becoming an instant

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

. It centers on the Salom family, most notably five sisters — Buka, Nina, Klara, Blanki and Riki. The novel was inspired by Kuić's mother Blanki Levi and her sisters. ''The Scent of Rain in the Balkans'' follows the destinies of, not only

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, but also

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

and

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

during two major historical events —

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In his review of the novel,

David Albahari David Albahari (, ; 15 March 1948 – 30 July 2023) was a Serbian writer. Albahari wrote mainly novels and short stories in the Serbian language. He was also an established translator from English into Serbian language, Serbian. He was a member of ...

wrote: ''The Scent of Rain in the Balkans'' has been adapted into a ballet, a play and a

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

Plot

The novel describes the historic period in

the Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

from the beginning of

in 1914, to the end of

in 1945 through the lives and destinies of the Saloms, a

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

family from

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. The leading characters are the five courageous Salom sisters whose struggle to fulfil personal desires and aspirations run contrary to the strict conventions of the multicultural and religious societies — Bosnian

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

— of the time, living side by side in the small town of Sarajevo.

Characters

The Salom family

* Leon Salom, the father of the family * Estera Salom, the mother of the family * Laura "Buka" Salom, later Laura Papo, the eldest daughter of Leon and Estera * Nina Salom, later Nina Ignjatić, the second daughter of Leon and Estera * Klara Salom, later Klara Valić, the third daughter of Leon and Estera * Isak "Atleta" Salom, the eldest son of Leon and Estera * Blanka "Blanki" Salom, later Branka Korać, the fourth daughter of Leon and Estera * Rifketa "Riki" Salom, the fifth and the youngest daughter of Leon and Estera, who becomes a successful

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

* Elijas Salom, the second son and the youngest child of Leon and Estera * Nona Salom, one of the aunts of the Salom children and a highly respected member of the family

Serbian characters

* Marko Korać, a

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

–born Blanki's childhood crush and eventually her husband * Škoro "Ignjo" Ignjatić, Danijel's friend and Nina's husband * Miloš Ranković, Riki's mentor and lover for a while * Dušan, a journalist from

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

who fancies Riki * Sanda Jovanović, Riki's friend from Belgrade of Jewish heritage * Nena Ranković, Miloš's wife * Vlada Stefanović, a teacher in the village where Riki hides * Danica Stefanović, Vlada's wife * Vera Korać, Blanki and Marko's daughter * Risto Korać, one of Marko's brothers * Pero Korać, one of Marko's brothers * Saveta Primorac, Marko's sister * Jovo Primorac, Saveta's husband * Ana Primorac, one of two Saveta and Jovo's daughters * Jelena Primorac, one of two Saveta and Jovo's daughters * Toma, a Serbian peasant who shelters Riki * Spasenija, Toma's wife * Mrs. Ninković, a frequent shopper in Nina's hat boutique who likes gossiping

Jewish characters

* Danijel Papo, Buka's husband and the father of her sons Leon and Koki * Zdenka Vajs, an

Ashkenazi Jew Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

, Atleta's wife * Leon Papo, Buka and Danijel's elder son, named after his maternal grandfather * Barkohba "Koki" Papo, Buka and Danijel's younger son

Other characters

* Ivo Valić, a Catholic

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

, Klara's husband * Didi Valić, Klara and Ivo's daughter * Pol Valić, Klara and Ivo's son * Cliff Morton, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

soldier and Didi's husband * Grethen, a rich

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

girl and Blanki's good friend from school * Carl Raimund, the agent of a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

school from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

* Dragu, a ballet dancer and Riki's friend * Mr. Panzini, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

rich man who fancies Blanki * Sister Agata, a nun in the

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

where Buka dies

Structure and language

''The Scent of Rain in the Balkans'' is written in

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of ...

, with some parts in

Ladino Ladino, derived from Latin, may refer to: * Judeo-Spanish language (ISO 639–3 lad), spoken by Sephardic Jews *Ladino people, a socio-ethnic category of Mestizo or Hispanicized people in Central America especially in Guatemala * Black ladinos, a ...

, the language of

Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

. It is divided in thirteen parts — ''28 June 1914'' (''28. jun 1914''), ''A Flight to Unknown'' (''Let u nepoznato''), ''Linden, the Tree of Old Slavs'' (''Lipa, drvo starih Slovena''), ''Time for Decisions'' (''Vreme za odluke''), ''Toboggan'' (''Tobogan''), ''When a Day Turns Cold and the Shadows Are Gone'' (''Kad zahladni dan i senke odu''), ''The End of One Age'' (''Kraj jednog vremena''), ''A Critic Point'' (''Kritična tačka''), ''Runaways'' (''Bežanja''), ''Paper Jesters'' (''Papirni pajaci''), ''A New Life'' (''Novi život''), ''Lasting'' (''Trajanje'') and ''Epilogue'' (''Epilog'').

Awards

* 1986 — Association of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia Award for Novel of the Year

Adaptations

In 1992,

by Croatian composer

Igor Kuljerić Igor Kuljerić (February 1, 1938 – April 20, 2006) was an important Croatian composer and conductor. His large opus followed the stylistic changes and evolutions of 20th and 21st century music. Biography Born in the coastal city of Šibenik ...

''The Scent of Rain in the Balkans – a Ballet for Riki'' premiered in

, and then a week after in

. In 2009, screenwriter Nebojša Romčević wrote a stage adaptation of the novel that premiered on 12 April 2009 in the

Madlenianum Opera and Theatre Madlenianum Opera and Theatre is an opera house and theatre located in Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia. It is the first privately owned opera and theater company both in Serbia and in Southeast Europe. It is located in Belgrade, Serbia, and was founded ...

, starring

Sloboda Mićalović Sloboda Mićalović Ćetković ( sr-cyr, Слобода Мићаловић Ћетковић; born 21 August 1981), better known as Sloboda Mićalović, is a Serbian actress. She is best known for her roles in film ''Zona Zamfirova (film), Zona Zam ...

and

Vuk Kostić Vuk Kostić ( sr-cyr, Вук Костић; born 22 November 1979) is a Serbian actor. He is famous for his roles in movies '' Apsolutnih 100'', '' Stvar srca'', "Ubice mog oca" and '' Klopka''. Private life He is the son of actor Mihajlo Kosti ...

. In 2010,

Ljubiša Samardžić Ljubiša Samardžić ( sr-cyr, Љубиша Самарџић; 19 November 1936 – 8 September 2017), nicknamed Smoki, was a Serbian actor and director, best known as Šurda in the ''Vruć vetar'' TV series, and Inspector Boško Simić in the com ...

directed the

television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

of the novel, which was shown on the

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

References

External links

* of Gordana Kuić {{DEFAULTSORT:Scent of Rain in the Balkans 1986 novels Historical novels Novels set in Yugoslavia Serbian novels Novels set in Serbia Novels set in Bosnia and Herzegovina Jewish Bosnian history Judaeo-Spanish literature