The Lack of Light by Nino Haratischwili

A page-turning epic of loss and redemption in the vein of Rebecca Makkai’s The Great Believers and Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, about a group of four women who formed a deep friendship in the turbulent years leading up to and after Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union.

They are four, as different as can be: the romantic Nene, the clever outsider Ira, the idealistic Dina, and the sensitive Keto. Inseparable since childhood, they grow up together in an old Tiblisi courtyard, in Georgia, at a time when the Soviet Union is crumbling and the future of their country is in question. Each in her own way experiences love, hope, and disappointment as local mob wars, romance, and civil war threaten to swallow up their worlds. Rising to challenges both personal and political -a first love that can only blossom in secret, violent street skirmishes, a ravaging drug epidemic-the four women’s friendship seems indestructible, until an unforgivable act of betrayal and a tragic death shatter their bond.

Decades later, the three survivors reunite at a major retrospective of their late friend’s photography. The pictures on display tell the story not only of their country but also of their friendship, and, confronted by them, Nene, Ira, and Keto relive their staggering loss. Then, unexpectedly, something new is glimpsed, and forgiveness seems within reach. Like the International Booker Prize nominated The Eighth Life before it, Nino Haratischwili’s The Lack of Light is an emotionally bold, decades-spanning epic in which to lose yourself, brought to life by the vibrant colors of Georgia’s culture and its people. It is a glorious book readers will return to again and again.

Translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin

About the Author: Born in Tbilisi in 1983, Nino Haratischwili is a multiple-award-winning novelist and dramatist and one of the most important authors of contemporary German literature. She is the author of the worldwide bestseller The Eighth Life (for Brilka), which was translated into numerous languages and nominated for the International Booker Prize, and The Cat and the General, which was shortlisted for the German Book Prize. Nino Haratischwili lives in Berlin.

23 Oct 2025
 

The Lack of Light: A Novel of Georgia by Nino Haratischwili ISBN 9780063253612