"Die Legende der Luna Levi" is the first part of Gordana Kuić’s historical trilogy about the Sephardic Jews in the Balkans. With great attention to detail, the author describes the rites and customs of the community and the beginnings of their new life in the multicultural city on the Bosporus. The first characters in the novel are the parents of Luna Levi, a Jewish girl, and a former inquisitor, who embarks on a new life together with the Jews expelled from Spain. Luna Levi is the first-born daughter blessed with an astute mind, a fiery temperament, and an extraordinary beauty. She marries a respected member of the Jewish community, but the marriage remains childless, until she coincidentally meets her father’s business associate, an Ottoman army commander. It is the start of a passionate love affair and another exciting journey …

The prose works by bestselling author Gordana Kuić are based on her own family’s history, set against the background of the culture of the Sephardic Jews in the Balkans. In Die Legende der Luna Levi the author cleverly combines historical facts and poetic descriptions to produce a vivid and touching narrative. She has published eight novels to date and two collections of short stories. The German translation of her debut novel The Scent of Rain in the Balkans (“Der Duft des Regens auf dem Balkan”) has also been published by Hollitzer Verlag.

Reading in original: Branka Zorić-Vasović, Belgrade National Theater
Reading in German: Suse Lichtenberger, actress
Musical accompaniment: Marta Nowicka (vocals), Sandesh Manuel (guitar)
Discussion with Gordana Kuić

Advance booking requested: +43 1 535 04 31-110 or e-mail: events@jmw.at.

Free admission from 6.15 pm

Where: Museum Dorotheergasse
When: Tuesday, 31 May 18:30,