Infidelity

by Dejan Trajkoski, Дејан Трајкоски

Set in Macedonia at the beginning of the twentieth century, the novel Infidelity draws on myth and history to tell an unusual story of star-crossed lovers. When his proposal to Luna is rejected by her parents, the intrepid Sunny goes to America to earn enough money to win her hand. However, only days after he sets sail, Sunny finds himself drawn to another woman, a passenger aboard the ship taking him to the New World. In a simple, fairytale-like style, told from multiple perspectives, Trajkoski tells an immersive story of inner conflict, heartbreak, and loss.

163 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2020

About the author

Dejan Trajkoski is a writer, founder and director of the International Literary Festival "PRO-ZA Balkan" and owner of the publishing house Prozart Media. He has worked as a journalist, film festival selector, editor, and publisher. Paul Filev is a literary translator from Macedonian and Spanish to English. His translations include the novels Alma Mahler by Sasho Dimoski (Dalkey Archive Press, 2018), Blue Label by Eduardo Sánchez Rugeles, and the anthology Contemporary Macedonian Fiction (Dalkey Archive Press, 2019. He lives in Melbourne.

Reviews

[Connie Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m sure all translated books lose a little bit of their original charm during the conversion - but still it’s so beautifully written. I don’t condone cheating or infidelity lol but there is still something poetic about how the heart can love multiple things/people at once?? First time reading Macedonian literature🥳

[Asterix · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My innocent and long-suffering Macedonia, perpetually in the grip of others because of their desire--like mine--to suckle from numerous breasts, because of their desire to absorb everything into themselves--and again like me--to sap all its resources to water their own fields, not caring that the people of that land can't raise a crop, or see the fruit of their labor because of those others, because of those who wanted everything only for themselves."

A novel which, through wrenching prose, tells us how sexual desire sanctifies the cathedrals of love we build, and warns how it can corrode the foundations, too.

Infidelity explores the double-standard of sexual freedom, in which Sunny, our male protagonist, goes to America to raise money to marry his beloved Luna, only to fall into temptations he thought he had reserved for his Moon. Luna, meanwhile, is trapped in Macedonia, forced into passivity, for this is a society in which, as our narrator explains, even men do not see their wives naked for the shame of it. Sunny's pathetic and occasionally self-aware apologias remind one of Humbert Humbert's charming horrors in Lolita. One can only laugh at his ineptitude when he sputters "what did I do to you?" in response to Luna's first orgasm--after so many years of what he believed to be extraordinary lovemaking.

Published in an English translation by Dalkey Archive in 2020. Translated (wonderfully) by Paul Filev.

[irem. · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Bu yüzden sana verebileceğim tek tavsiye Sone, ya yapmaman gereken hiçbir şeyi yapma ya da yapmaman gereken her şeyi yap. Ama bir zamanlar ihtiyaç duyduğun şeye artık ihtiyacın olmadığını, derinlerde bir yerde görebiliyorum. Ve böyle biri evine geri dönemez çünkü beraberinde sadece kalp acısını götürür.”

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kratko, smisleno i sadržajno. Fascinantno da na manje od 100 stranica može da se ovako snažno doživi, što neko ni sa više tomova ne uspeva. #justslayin

[Peppi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written

[Star · Rating 2 out of 5]

توجد بها فكرة ولكن لم يتم معالجتها بشكل جيد ، النتيجة رواية مفككة ، مملة قليلا ، ويوجد بها الكثير من العبارات التي بلا معنى ، لا اعلم هل المشكلة في الترجمة ام في الكاتب .

[Ashkhen Hovhannisyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the reading, I became really enraged. The novel is brimming with a variety of feelings.

[Nahla Ahmed samy · Rating 2 out of 5]

مستفزة 😑