Catharine's trajectory in life is accompanied by failures in love, family traumas and an incredible romance with handsome Sinisa. The novel takes us through turbulent times in the Balkan region, from the eighties to the present day, portraying growing up in the twilight of communism, and giving intimate insights into all that happened to the region after that. Carefully crafted characters and masterful, dynamic storytelling place Catherine the Great and the Small in the company of the very best of novels, which speak about the reality of their geographic setting and are remembered for their convincing, strong, maladjusted characters. Catherine is certainly one of them: a powerful female voice seeking her place within her family, among friends, in the cities she lives in, and constructing her unique identity as a daughter, granddaughter, friend, mistress, wife and a mother.

Winner of the VBZ Best Novel (Croatia) 2019

About the Author
Olya Knezevic was born and raised in Montenegro, went to school in California and received her degree in English language and literature from the University of Belgrade in Serbia. She also has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck College, London, where was awarded an Overall Prize for the best MA Creative Writing dissertation of the year 2008. That dissertation grew into the novel Milena & Other Social Reforms, which ended up being published first in Montenegro, then in Croatia. Knezevic has been awarded the V.B.Z. Award for the Best Unpublished Novel in 2019 for her work Katarina, Velika i Mala (Catherine, the Great and the Small). She currently lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia.


Book Information
ISBN 9781908236401
Author Olya Knezevic
Format Paperback
Page Count 250
Imprint Istros Books
Publisher Istros Books