Geoffrey Brock

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Skylark Farm
by Antonia Arslan (Knopf 2007; Vintage 2008)
translated by Geoffrey Brock

A New York Times “Editor’s Choice” (2/11/2007)
Finalist for the L.A. Times Art Seidenbaum First Fiction Award
One of Booklist’s “Top Ten First Novels” of 2007 (11/15/2007)
A Historical Novels Review “Editors’ Choice” for May 2008

“Genocide figured in both world wars, but whereas the Holocaust is massively attested, the deliberate extermination of Armenians in 1915 is far less so. Retired professor Arslan's first novel, based upon the experiences and using the names of her family, conjures that terrible time with consummate art... Squirmingly suspenseful throughout, this soul-shaking novel feels like a masterpiece.” —Booklist (starred)

“A powerful account... Translated from Italian with impressive subtlety by Geoffrey Brock.” —Bloomberg

“Antonia Arslan’s masterly debut novel begins in Turkey, 1915, on the cusp of the Armenian genocide. A horrific ending looms, yet this does not make Skylark Farm any less gripping... [I]mmense warmth and unforgettable characters.” —Financial Times

“An Armenian Schindler's List.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“Those who read Skylark Farm will never forget the events of 1914-1918... The strength of the tale is striking: By page 23 readers know what the outcome will be and yet it's impossible to stop reading. Skylark Farm operates like Schindler’s List; it’s a story of hope that makes it easier for us to confront the horror of what happens when evil is allowed to run unchecked.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“Arslan delivers vivid, powerful testimony.” —Publishers Weekly

“In Arslan’s hands, the gruesome details of this tragedy are palliated by an old-fashioned story of redemption... Skylark Farm is an affecting book, and sensitively translated by Geoffrey Brock.” —The New York Times Book Review

“This intense, complex account [is] a book to savour.” —The Guardian

“Epic in sweep and heartbreaking in tone, Skylark Farm is billed as a novel transformed from the ‘obscure memories’ that are Arslan’s heritage. It reads rather as a dramatised family memoir, one that remains in its essentials a factual evocation of the bestiality, endurance and occasional heroism that attended the liquidation of Anatolian Armenia.” —Sunday Telegraph

“[A] luminous debut... Heartbreaking and highly recommended.” —Historical Novels Review (An Editor's Choice for May 2008)

“Arslan’s resurrection of the 1915 Armenian genocide in her debut novel, Skylark Farm, is pertinent and provocative... Precise, vibrant description and sumptuous language animate every facet of this world touched by death and terror.” —Chicago Tribune

“This soul-wrenching novel about man’s inhumanity to man is all the more powerful because of Geoffrey Brock’s sensitive translation.” —Rocky Mountain News

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