The first crime novel in Romanian literature is now available in a new illustrated edition. The story is based on the classic Romanian folk poem Miorita.Vitoria Lipan is the wife of a shepherd living in a Moldavian village. She can't read or write but she has outstanding intuition. One day she gets a premonition that something happened to her husband, who was away looking to buy more sheep.Guided by archaic symbols and local superstitions, Vitoria embarks on a journey to learn the truth.Her character is a unique portrayal of a simple peasant woman in the 1930s. Despite being illiterate she becomes a true female sleuth, crushing every stereotype of that time period.

One of the first successful novels written by a female author in Romania, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s A Bach Concert remains a classic work of Romanian literature. Originally published in 1927 in Romanian, the novel follows the life of the Hallipa family. The main plot revolves around a Bach concert organized by Elena Hallipa-Draganescu for the elite society of Bucharest. It’s a story of high society intrigue, family tragedy, East European urban life after World War I, and culture. Published for the first time in English, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s realistic novel will delight its readers with stories of this long-forgotten era.