Free: Coming of Age at the End of History
First edition
AuthorLea Ypi
PublisherAllen Lane
Publication date
28 October 2021 (2021-10-28)
Pages336[1]
ISBN978-0-241-48185-1

Free: Coming of Age at the End of History is a 2021 book by Lea Ypi published by Penguin Books.[1] In the book, Ypi details her experience growing up before and after the fall of communism in Albania.[2]

Reception

Free was shortlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize and the 2021 Costa Book Award for biography.[3][4] In January 2022, BBC Radio 4 serialised the book in their Book of the Week series.[5]

Free won the Ondaatje Prize[6] and the Slightly Foxed First Biography Prize.[7]

10,000 copies of the book were sold in November 2021.[2]

Ed O'Loughlin praised Ypi's use of subtext in the work.[8] Critics of the book have accused it of being communist apologia, an accusation that Ypi has denied.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Free". Penguin Books. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Weaver, Matthew (3 January 2022). "Author says memoir of communist Albania met with 'vicious' abuse". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  3. ↑ Flood, Alison (15 October 2021). "Baillie Gifford prize reveals 'outstanding storytelling' on 2021 shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Flood, Alison (23 November 2021). "Costa prize 2021 shortlists highlight climate anxiety". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  5. ↑ Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi. Book of the Week. BBC Radio 4. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  6. ↑ "RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022 Shortlist Announced". Royal Society of Literature. 2022-04-20. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  7. ↑ "Best First Biography Prize Archives". Slightly Foxed. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  8. ↑ O’Loughlin, Ed (18 December 2021). "Free by Lea Ypi: Funny, precise, accessible, serious memoir of a Stalinist childhood". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 January 2022.


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