Nino Haratischvili was born in Georgia in 1983, and is an
award-winning novelist, playwright, and theatre director. At home
in two different worlds, each with their own language, she has been
writing in both German and Georgian since the age of twelve. In
2010, her debut novel, Juja, was nominated for the German Book
Prize, as was Die Katze und der General in 2018. Her third novel,
The Eighth Life, has been translated into many languages and is an
international bestseller. It won the Anna Seghers Prize, the
Lessing Prize Stipend, and the Bertolt Brecht Prize, and was
longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020. She lives in
Berlin.
Charlotte Collins studied English Literature at Cambridge
University and worked as an actor and radio journalist in Germany
and the UK before becoming a literary translator. Her
co-translation, with Ruth Martin, of Nino Haratischvili’sThe Eighth
Life won the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, and in 2017
she was awarded the Goethe-Institut’s Helen and Kurt Wolff
Translator’s Prize for Robert Seethaler’s A Whole Life. Other
translations include Seethaler’s The Tobacconist, Homeland by
Walter Kempowski, and Olga by Bernhard Schlink.
Ruth Martin studied English literature before gaining a PhD in
German. She has been translating fiction and nonfiction books since
2010, by authors ranging from Joseph Roth and Hannah Arendt to
Volker Weidermann and Shida Bazyar. She has taught translation at
the University of Kent and the Bristol Translates summer school,
and is a former co-chair of the Society of Authors Translators
Association.
‘A harrowing, heartening and utterly engrossing epic novel …
astonishing … A subtle and compelling translation by Charlotte
Collins and Ruth Martin (on the heels of a Georgian version earlier
this year) should make this as great a literary phenomenon in
English as it has been in German.’
*The Guardian*
‘The Eighth Life … is a lavish banquet of family stories that can,
for all their sorrows, be devoured with gluttonous delight. Nino
Haratischvili’s characters … come to exuberant life. Her huge novel
… shows a double face, its crushing pain and loss nonetheless
conveyed with an artful storyteller’s sheer joy in her craft.’
*The Financial Times*
‘It is an ambitious undertaking, but the author retains a firm
grasp on her material and knows exactly how she wishes to present
the human cost and consequences to a family facing war and
colliding ideologies … I finished by applauding the vision,
boldness and passionate commitment.’
*Daily Mail*
‘An epic read that will leave you 100% satisfied.’
*Stylist*
‘Elegant ... It is a triumph of both authorship and painstaking
translation ... The Eighth Life is an unforgettable love
letter to Georgia and the Caucasus, to lives led and to come, and
to writing itself.’
*The Economist*
‘Elegant … it demonstrates a technical mastery, impressively
sustained … The Eighth Life is more than a family saga: it is an
ode, a lamentation, a monument – to Georgia, its people, its past
and future.’
*TLS*
‘The Eighth Life is capacious, voluble, urgent, readable,
translated heroically and sparklingly by Charlotte Collins and Ruth
Martin.’
*The Telegraph*
‘This is a long, rewarding novel … ably translated through a
collaborative process. It makes for an engrossing book.
Haratischvili has created a fascinating cast (and it’s easy to
imagine it as a television series) whose lives illuminate some of
the greatest events of the 20th century.’
*The Irish Times*
‘If you love Georgia read this.’
*Olia Hercules, author of Mamushka*
‘It is a great read. If you love historical sagas and romances,
this is the book for you.’
*ABC Radio National The Bookshelf*
'The novel of the year.'
*Der Spiegel*
'Nino Haratischvili is one of the most important voices in
contemporary German literature.'
*Die Zeit*
'Everybody requires a new, vigorous narrative of European ideals,
of the European past ... Nino Haratischvili has created this
narrative in her new novel.'
*Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung*
'Nino Haratischvili has written a great book: a book which ranges
over a century and half of the globe; a book however, within which
- as in the infant's experience - everything is only love and
dread. It is a coup!'
*Suddeutsche Zeitung*
‘If you only read one book this year make sure it is The
Eighth Life … Intricately crafted and addictive, The Eighth
Life is an extraordinary, dramatic and compelling read ... The
ambitious, vivid and unflinching translation from the original
German by Ruth Martin and Charlotte Collins is in itself a work of
art, and deserves to win every translation prize going.’
*BookBlast*
‘Not only in its length does this novel resemble the work of Boris
Pasternak. You will not want to put it down. The red century
devours a family, and history comes with a pinch of chocolate —
Like Water for Chocolate, even.’
*Brigitte*
‘For those who enjoy a big story, that has great characters that
will keep you engaged to the very end.’ FOUR STARS
*Manly Daily*
‘This is one for long-haul flights or the Christmas lock-in.’
*Cara*
‘The Eighth Life is the sort of book that sweeps you along,
sustaining a tremendous feeling of urgency, as if the narrator ...
is desperate to get it all out, get it all on paper, before the
family curse catches up with her.’
*The Saturday Paper*
‘The Eighth Life is a sprawling family saga, to be savoured for its
grandeur, scope and scale ... Interwoven with love, loss, triumph
and tragedy are the uncanny impacts of a family recipe for divine
hot chocolate, which just might carry a curse ... [E]nthralling and
satisfying.’ FIVE STARS
*Good Reading*
‘The Eighth Life is a saga. An epic saga … Truly absorbing, it
feels like a dozen little books contained in one.’
*Frankie Magazine*
‘If it’s a family saga you’re seeking, look no further than this
grand tale, ably translated by Collins and Martin. The author
gracefully interweaves the historical backdrop of her novel with
the lives of her characters, thus adding depth to her story.
Heartily recommended.’ STARRED REVIEW
*Library Journal*
‘[A]n exceptional, deeply evocative saga of an elite Georgian
family as they endure the 20th century’s political upheavals, from
before the Bolshevik Revolution through the post-Soviet era … In
heartfelt prose, Haratischvili seamlessly weaves the political
upheaval around the characters into the love and loss in their
lives. Haratischvili’s epic portrait of a close-knit family doubles
as a stunning tribute to the power of resilience.’ STARRED
REVIEW
*Publishers Weekly*
‘This novel has generated substantial industry buzz and
international critical praise. Both are justified … The Eighth Life
— the story of a family, a country, a century — is an imaginative,
expansive, and important read.’ STARRED REVIEW
*Booklist*
‘This multi-award winning novel is a riveting read … You too often
want to pause and appreciate delightful twists, intriguing
concepts, the catch-your-breath unexpected.’
*The Australian*
‘Spanning six generations of a family between 1900 and the 21st
century, its characters travel to Tbilisi, Moscow, London and
Berlin in an epic story of doomed romance that combines humour with
magic realism.’
*The Guardian, ‘Ten of the best new books in translation’*
‘The scope is Tolstoyan: the drama of War and Peace, the emotion of
Anna Karenina … A sprinkling of Allendesque magic realism is added,
along with a handful of spirits and a secret recipe for delicious
and addictive hot chocolate that appears to curse those who drink
it.’
*The Riveter*
‘The Eighth Life is capacious, voluble, urgent, readable,
translated heroically and sparklingly by Charlotte Collins and Ruth
Martin.’
*Julian Evans*
‘[T]his sprawling epic of love and loss … The Eighth Life is an
expansive and hopeful tale centred on family touched by war and
revolution.’
*Foreword Reviews*
‘Sometimes I wonder how many people harbour a secret desire to
write a book about their family’s entire history. I have certainly
met enough women in my life who have expressed this explicitly,
especially the stories shared by their mothers and grandmothers—the
implication being that we don’t get enough of these stories in
literature or biographies. It is perhaps for this reason that
reading Nino Haratischwili’s The Eighth Life, translated by
Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin, feels so familiar, almost like a
wish fulfilled ... The Eighth Life has deservedly been compared to
Tolstoy’s War & Peace.’
*Asymoptote*
‘The Eighth Life is the saga of a Georgian family – its intricate,
interconnected lives, its losses, triumphs, sadnesses, and great
loves, set against the sweep of Russian history across the
twentieth century ... an unforgettable, rich and textured piece of
literature.’
*Readings*
‘Something rather extraordinary happened. The world fell away and I
fell, wholly, happily, into the book ... My breath caught in my
throat, tears nestled in my lashes ... devastatingly
brilliant.’
*The New York Times Book Review*
‘Georgia, a picturesque nation squeezed between the Caucasus
Mountains and the Black Sea, was once considered a wine-soaked
playground for the Soviet upper crust. This multigenerational epic,
framed as a gift from the embittered narrator, Niza, to her wayward
niece, provides a more nuanced view. It begins with Niza’s
bourgeois great-grandmother, whose dream of becoming a ballerina is
derailed by Lenin’s revolution. Her descendants are likewise
transformed by upheavals of the twentieth century: Stalinist
purges, the Second World War, the Prague Spring, Georgia’s
independence, and the subsequent civil war. Through these events,
the novel offers not only a critique of Soviet and Russian imperial
ambitions but a necessary reappraisal of Georgian history.’
*The New Yorker*
‘Once I finished this amazing family tale, the gold is worn off the
cover in places, but the memories that made for a story told well
will remain with me. I felt part of this family as I traveled with
them through time and history; as they shared with me all the
threads of their woven carpet, generations old ... I loved this
amazing book.’
*Literati Bookstore*
‘It’s definitely the best work of fiction I've read in the last
year.’
*Novel Bookstore*
‘The Eighth Life provides readers a bird’s-eye view of
conservative Georgian society … The characters who populate
this novel courageously survive war and impossible courtships,
induced miscarriages and despotic political regimes … gracefully
riveting.’
*World Literature Today*
‘The Eighth Life is a cup of hot chocolate: intoxicating,
addictive, and highly pleasurable.’
*LA Review of Books*
‘A comprehensive, vivid, and heartbreaking portrait of 19th- and
20th-century Georgia … Haratishvili’s gripping saga leaves the
reader with an unmistakable sense of Georgia’s history, culture,
and the wounds of its past.’
*Calvert Journal*
'It reminded me of Gone with the Wind crossed with 100 Years of
Solitude.'
*Eric Karl Anderson (LonesomeReader)*
‘[T]his friendly monster of a novel is an immersive saga that
embraces the reader in its sumptuous tapestry of woven tales. It
also delivers a shrewd exploration of the ways that the steamroller
of history — which, for Georgia, has included the worst of modern
tyranny and terror — still leaves space for human (especially
women’s) choice and agency … I recently co-judged Warwick
University’s Women in Translation award — which The Eighth Life won
— and have seldom felt so sure about a prize decision.’
*Words Without Borders*
‘In The Eighth Life, Haratischvili investigates the relationship
between personal trauma and the pains of a nation. While that might
sound weighty, thus justifying the claims that the novel is the
Georgian War and Peace, the narrative is easily digestible — like
one of the Jashi family’s confections, The Eighth Life is a cup of
hot chocolate: intoxicating, addictive, and highly
pleasurable.’
*Los Angeles Review of Books*
‘This is one for long-haul flights or the Christmas lock-in.’
*Aer Lingus*
‘This huge, important novel is mesmerizing on audio, thanks to the
range and judgment demonstrated in Tavia Gilbert’s remarkable
performance ... Haratischvili’s ambition here is Tolstoyan, and her
moving achievement will widen your world.’
*AudioFile*
‘A gripping whopper of a read.’
*i newspaper*
‘[The Eighth Life] is 913 pages filled with characters who you
love, adore, absolutely despise and yet mourn when all is said and
done. Historical fiction novel that spans over 100 years.’
*Mamamia*
‘A haunting tale of Georgia over the last century that’s both raw
and heartbreaking, The Eighth Life is a brilliant act of
storytelling and an insightful look into Georgian culture and
history.’
*Forbes*
![]() |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
![]() |