Natalka Babina was born on May 15, 1966 in Belarus, close to the border with Poland and Ukraine, and graduated from Belarusian Institute of Technology in Minsk.Babina worked at the editorial departments of two Belarusian newspapers. Since 1994, she published her works in the independent newspaper Nasha Niva. Since 2006, she became a journalist at the same venue, also collaborating with other presses in Belarus and Ukraine.Natalka Babina authored a collection of stories The Blood Should Not Be Seen and a novel The Town of Fish, both translated into Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and Czech. Natalka became the laureate of the Cherkasova prize of Belarusian association of journalists in 2010.
"In fact, the realism in the background of Babina's novel is
consistently more interesting than the flashy fantasy of its plot.
Ala's very realistic personal history gives her character an
unusual perspective and a distinctive narrative voice." Bradley
Gorski, World Literature Today
"Originally written in Belarusian, Natalka Babina' book is the
rural murder mystery you've always dreamt of. Existing somewhere in
the grey area between credibility and fantasy, the novel follows
two twin sisters as they investigate the sudden death of their
grandmother." Elise Morton, The Calvert Journal
"Babina's original and ambitious novel, in a fine translation by
Jim Dingley, gives a remarkable picture of both the attractive and
the appalling sides of provincial Belarusian life. Down among the
Fishes, in a fluent and idiomatic translation by Jim Dingley, is
one of the most interesting novels by a young Belarusian writer.
Natalka Babina's book, somewhere between the genres of village
prose and magic realism, also contains elements of murder mystery,
treasure hunting, commercial greed and finagling, and, above all,
the violent manipulation of the presidential election campaign.
Particularly successful is the narrator, a 50-year-old recovering
alcoholic, whose twin sister works for an opposition politician,
and there is a wide range of other characters, ranging from the
honest, even heroic, to the venal, and totally ruthless, including
an outstanding but spineless poet. For an impression of provincial
Belarusian life (in the Biareście region near the Polish border),
this vivid novel reveals some of the undoubted physical attractions
of Belarus, as well as the cruelty and harshness of the lives of
many who live there." Arnold McMillan, Emeritus Professor
"The novel is told in the first person, over the course of 56 short
chapters, by the heroine, Ala Anatoleuna Babylyova, a
fifty-year-old recovering alcoholic, a divorcee whose only child
has predeceased her. Ala, however, possesses one remarkable quality
- the ability to travel back through time. This is what provides
the novel with what the blurb calls 'elements of magical realism'
and what Terry Pratchett would simply call 'fantasy'. It is this
ability which enables her to hunt for, and ultimately locate,
long-buried treasure. This strand of the novel might be termed an
adventure story, but there are as many strands in this novel as
there are linguistic variations." Michael Pursglove, East-West
Review
"Down among the Fishes is a monument, first and foremost, to the
women of Belarus. It is their strength that upholds decency in
Belarusian society, unhinged as it has been ever so often by the
times and powers-that-be." Dr. Joerg Forbrig, Fund for Belarus
Democracy
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