PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewA kaleidoscopic collection ... Jaw-dropping ... Sometimes hard to follow, in part because it jumps back and forth in time. But her style of brave, intimate reporting is likely to be a rarity in Russia for years to come.
Kapka Kassabova
RaveFinancial Times (UK)Kassabova’s calling as a poet is evident in short turns of phrase dense with meaning, and in her propensity to feel the weight of all symbols, especially the supernatural ones. Sometimes the book moves slowly, like the lives of the characters who populate it, but ultimately it is worth it for the meditations on family, legacy, war and identity, delivered as short, sharp revelations. Equally important is the writer’s compassion. Her patience, language skills and her ties to the region enable her to avoid the paternalism, clichés and judgment that characterise the writings of so many of those who came before her ... To the Lake is an exquisitely written rallying cry to embrace the notion that the people of the Balkans — and indeed humanity as a whole — have more in common than what divides them, despite generations of strife suggesting otherwise.
