Good Citizens Need Not Fear

Unwillige Katalogbräute, unwissende Junggesellen und ein seltener Schneckenkönig - der Angriffskrieg der Russen auf die Ukraine 2022 macht aus diesen Figuren und ihrer Autorin eine skurrile SchicksalsgemeinschaftUkraine, 2022. Jewa ist eine Schneckenforscherin, die aussterbende Arten - sogenannte Endlinge - in einem mobilen Labor retten will. Die immer erfolglosere Arbeit finanziert sie mit ihrer Schönheit. Als "Braut" einer Heiratsagentur unterhält sie westliche Männer auf der Suche nach einer fügsamen Frau fürs Leben. So lernt sie die Schwestern Nastia und Sol kennen, die das aktivistische Werk ihrer vermissten Mutter fortsetzen wollen. Ihr Plan: Heiratstouristen in Jewas Transporter kidnappen und aufmerksamkeitsträchtig im Wald aussetzen. Bald geht's los: drei wütende Frauen, dreizehn ahnungslose Junggesellen und Lefty, eine linksgewundene Schnecke, das letzte Exemplar ihrer Art - doch dann überfallen die Russen das Land ... Und der Roman nimmt eine ungeahnte Wendung. Oder zwei. Denn wenn die Wirklichkeit in die Fiktion einfällt, wird es wild und scharzhumorig.¿Ein Königreich für eine Schnecke¿ ist ein meisterhaftes Debüt über Liebe und Verlust, über Zerstörung in vielen Facetten und die rettende Kraft des Humors.Ausgezeichnet mit dem Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize 2025 und nominiert für den Booker Prize 2025'Dieses Buch ist witzig und intelligent, voller naturwissenschaftlicher Fakten zu Schnecken, Sehnsucht und Abenteuer, und erinnert uns gleichzeitig immer daran, was die Welt zu verlieren hat, und was schon verloren ist.' Ann Patchett'Originell und eindringlich. Die Erinnerung daran, dass die Figuren fiktiv sind, führt uns effektiv vor Augen, wie real Schrecken und Gewalt des Krieges sind.' The Sunday Times

* LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025 *<BR>* WINNER OF THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2026 *<BR>* SHORTLISTED FOR THE CLIMATE FICTION PRIZE *<BR>* WINNER OF THE ATWOOD GIBSON WRITERS' TRUST FICTION PRIZE *<BR>* A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, IRISH TIMES, BBC, WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY *<BR><BR>An unforgettable debut novel about the journey of three women and one extremely endangered snail through contemporary Ukraine<BR> <BR> 'A fierce and funny road-trip novel' GUARDIAN, the 50 hottest books to read right now<BR> 'Inventive and playful' SUNDAY TIMES<BR>'A stunning debut' OBSERVER<BR>'I was gripped . . . Brilliant' DAILY MAIL<BR>'A thrilling ride' FINANCIAL TIMES<BR>'A bold, brilliant, original, funny and devastating novel' KATE MCLOUGHLIN, TLS<BR> 'Brilliant and heart-stopping' LOS ANGELES TIMES<BR> 'Startling and ambitious' NEW YORK TIMES<BR> 'Animated by dark humor and cool fury' NEW YORKER<BR> 'Dexterous and formally inventive' MARCEL THEROUX, GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY<BR><BR> Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a maverick scientist who scours the country's forests and valleys, trying and failing to breed rare snails while her relatives urge her to settle down and start a family of her own. What they don't know: Yeva already dates plenty of men-not for love, but to fund her work-entertaining Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they'll find docile brides untainted by feminism.<BR><BR> Nastia and her sister, Solomiya, are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator while secretly searching for their missing mother, who vanished after years of fierce activism against the romance tours.<BR><BR> So begins a journey of a lifetime across a country on the brink of war: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail with one final shot at perpetuating his species.<BR><BR>* LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE *<BR>* FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARDS *<BR><BR>'Fantastic . . . I love works that are smarter than I am and this is one' PERCIVAL EVERETT, author of Booker-shortlisted JAMES<BR><BR> 'Funny and smart, full of science, longing and adventure . . . This is essential reading' ANN PATCHETT, bestselling author of TOM LAKE<BR><BR>'Heartbreaking, hilarious, profound, and vital' LARA PRESCOTT, bestselling author of THE SECRETS WE KEEP

* LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025 ** WINNER OF THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2026 ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CLIMATE FICTION PRIZE ** WINNER OF THE ATWOOD GIBSON WRITERS' TRUST FICTION PRIZE ** WINNER OF THE AMAZON CANADA FIRST NOVEL AWARD ** A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, IRISH TIMES, BBC, WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY *An unforgettable debut novel about the journey of three women and one extremely endangered snail through contemporary Ukraine 'A fierce and funny road-trip novel' GUARDIAN, the 50 hottest books to read right now 'Inventive and playful' SUNDAY TIMES'A stunning debut' OBSERVER'I was gripped . . . Brilliant' DAILY MAIL'A thrilling ride' FINANCIAL TIMES'A bold, brilliant, original, funny and devastating novel' KATE MCLOUGHLIN, TLS 'Brilliant and heart-stopping' LOS ANGELES TIMES 'Startling and ambitious' NEW YORK TIMES 'Animated by dark humor and cool fury' NEW YORKER 'Dexterous and formally inventive' MARCEL THEROUX, GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a maverick scientist who scours the country's forests and valleys, trying and failing to breed rare snails while her relatives urge her to settle down and start a family of her own. What they don't know: Yeva already dates plenty of men-not for love, but to fund her work-entertaining Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they'll find docile brides untainted by feminism. Nastia and her sister, Solomiya, are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator while secretly searching for their missing mother, who vanished after years of fierce activism against the romance tours. So begins a journey of a lifetime across a country on the brink of war: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail with one final shot at perpetuating his species.* LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE ** FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARDS *'Fantastic . . . I love works that are smarter than I am and this is one' PERCIVAL EVERETT, author of Booker-shortlisted JAMES 'Funny and smart, full of science, longing and adventure . . . This is essential reading' ANN PATCHETT, bestselling author of TOM LAKE'Heartbreaking, hilarious, profound, and vital' LARA PRESCOTT, bestselling author of THE SECRETS WE KEEP