Frei

Albania 1989: The last Stalinist outpost in Europe, an isolated country that is difficult to visit and even harder to leave. It is characterized by a command economy, secret police, and the proletariat. Communism has taken the place of religion. For ten-year-old Lea Ypi, this country is her home: a place of security, learning, hope, and freedom.

Everything changes when the Berlin Wall falls and Enver Hoxha's statue topples in Tirana. Now people can choose whom they want, dress as they please, and worship what they wish. But the new era soon reveals its unfriendly face: ruthless entrepreneurs ruin the economy, and the prospect of a better future dissolves into unemployment and mass exodus. As the country threatens to sink into chaos and secrets come to light within her family, Lea begins to question what freedom really is.

In captivating prose, Lea Ypi recounts her coming of age in post-Stalinist Albania and a colorful family whose history is closely intertwined with that of the country. "Free" is a compelling memoir and a keen reflection on the limits of progress and the burden of the past, on shining ideals and harsh realities. Above all, it is about the lives of people caught in the storm of history.