Slanting Towards the Sea

An evocative meditation on longing and buried resentment, set in the beautiful Croatian city of Zadar.

Ivona has returned to her childhood home to care for her father. While there, she reconnects with the man she divorced over ten years ago and finds herself welcomed into his family life by him and his wife. But when a new man enters Ivona’s life, the trio’s carefully curated dynamic is disrupted, forcing a reckoning for all involved.

Slanting Towards the Sea explores what it means to come of age in a country younger than oneself, as it sets a sensual, decades-long love story against an emerging Croatia.

‘With illuminating prose and gripping storytelling, Lidija Hilje ascertains her place as an exciting new voice in world’s literature. Slanting Towards the Sea is a love letter to Croatia and to anyone who dares to dream.’ Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

‘Oh, what a beautiful book this is – deeply felt, humane, gorgeously written. Hilje’s prose is positively hypnotic – I sunk in and didn’t want to come up for air.’ Claire Lombardo