Catch the Rabbit
by Lana Bastašić
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Sara, a Bosnian writer and poet, has settled down in Dublin, and has more or less succeeded in forgetting her past, her country of origin and the uncomfortable memories of a fractured, post-war state. One day, however, Sara receives an unexpected phone call from Lejla, the best friend with whom she shared her childhood and coming of age. Even though they have not spoken for twelve years, the voice of Lejla, the special friend with whom Sara shared her childhood and coming of age, draws her back to the Balkans. Lejla’s brother Armin, who disappeared during the atrocities of the Bosnian war, has reappeared in Vienna and Lejla wants her friend to drive her from Bosnia to the Austrian capital to track him down. But what exactly are the two friends looking for? Is it Armin, or is it, perhaps, a better understanding of their shared past?
Lana Bastašić’s debut novel, winner of the European Union Prize for Literature 2020, is being published in an English translation by the author herself. The novel’s title – Catch the Rabbit – is an homage to Lewis Carroll and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Like Alice’s surreal adventure underground, Bastašić creates a world which, although rooted in reality, is peopled by figures who are larger than life. Chief amongst these is Lejla, the real protagonist of this novel despite the fact that the narrator is Sara. The story does feature a real rabbit, which is a key element in Sara and Lejla’s shared memories. But it also serves as one of several narrative connections between Catch the Rabbit and Alice. Don’t expect, however, an entertaining children’s book. Like Carroll, Bastašić plays around with narrative logic but her themes and aims are dead serious. This is a novel around friendship along the divisive lines created by war, about adults rethinking and reinterpreting their childhood memories (and not necessarily liking what they find there). It is a book which can be uplifting, but which is equally painful in the realities it brings home to the narrator and, implicitly, the reader.
Indeed, if I have a reservation about this English edition,
it is the cover. While it brings out nicely the novel’s more fantastical,
psychedelic elements, its garish colours also hint at a light-hearted female
buddy road novel. Catch the Rabbit is much darker than that.
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