Broken April

Published in 1979 and translated into English in 1990, Ismail Kadare’s Broken April is a dramatic story set in the remote mountainsides of Albania. The story opens with a young mountaineer murdering a neighbor to honor a blood feud. As the man’s story unfolds, two newlyweds from the city arrive in the mountains for their honeymoon and become entangled in the customs and practices of the mountaineers. Dark and tragic, Broken April tackles themes of normalized violence, women’s liberation, and the slowness of meaningful change.

Plot Summary

Told in seven chapters, Broken April begins with Gjorg Berisha, a young man from the High Plateau in Albania, killing his neighbor to avenge his brother’s death. Gjorg’s family is ensnared in a blood feud with their neighbors, a practice commonly practiced by the people of the High Plateau. Their code of laws, the Kanun, permits revenge killings, causing a cycle of families killing each other. Repeatedly, Gjorg questions his own actions, but he continues to act to honor the Kanun.

A funeral procession is held, and Gjorg’s father insists Gjorg attend. Soon, Gjorg can be killed to avenge the new death. In the meantime, he’s granted a bessa, or temporary truce, giving him 30 days to enjoy a free life. Gjorg can’t decide how to spend the time afforded to him, and the truce will end in the middle of April. Before Gjorg makes any formal plans, he is sent to the town of Orosh, where he must pay a death tax for his killing. He sets out on foot, and when he finally reaches Orosh, Gjorg discovers he must wait several days to pay his tax.

Meanwhile, Bessian and Diana Vorpsi, city dwellers from Tirana, take an expensive carriage up into the mountains for their honeymoon. Bessian earns his living writing stories about the High Plateau and is excited to show his young, beautiful wife the region he’s written so much about. As they travel, Bessian talks over his wife, which upsets her, but they reconcile and become cordial again. The next day, they head to Orosh, the same town Gjorg travelled to. The newlyweds encounter Gjorg on the road, looking pale and unwell. He offers them directions to Orosh. As he does, he exchanges a long glance with Diana, and the two feel an intense connection. The two parties go their separate ways, and the moment is lost. Diana and Bessian reach Orosh. When Bessian tries to initiate intimacy, Diana brushes him aside. The night terrifies her, and she worries about Gjorg.

Gjorg makes it back home from Orosh and can’t decide what to do with his remaining days as a free man. He settles on wandering the mountainside. He visits inns and villages, eventually hearing rumors of an exquisite carriage transporting a beautiful woman. Gjorg realizes with his remaining time he will seek out Diana and witness her serenity again.

Diana and Bessian continue their honeymoon, exploring the High Plateau. Diana slips away and sneaks into a tower of refuge, a place where men who have killed isolate themselves to avoid being killed themselves. She hopes Gjorg might be there. Bessian realizes Diana is missing and panics. She comes out of the tower pale and silent, and she won’t tell Bessian what she saw inside the tower. The divide in their marriage widens. As they leave the High Plateau, the newlyweds don’t say a word to one another, their relationship in shambles.

Gjorg’s bessa nears its end. He considers hiding, waiting till nightfall so he can travel safely. He laments he couldn’t find Diana. He comes across a man who mentions seeing an exquisite carriage and a beautiful woman. Gjorg sprints off, desperate to see Diana again, hoping she’s near enough for him to find her. Before he can, a bullet strikes Gjorg and he hits the ground, feeling death approaching.