To Go On Living
Stories
by Narine Abgaryan
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 22 Apr 2025 | Archive Date 22 Apr 2025
Plough Publishing | Plough Publishing House
Talking about this book? Use #ToGoOnLiving #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
Set in rural Armenia in the aftermath of war, Narine Abgaryan’s haunting short stories show people finding hope and purpose again.
Named “one of Europe’s most exciting authors” by the Guardian, Narine Abgaryan has written a dozen books which have collectively sold over 1.35 million copies. To Go On Living comes directly from her experiences coming of age during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s.
Set in an Armenian mountain village, thirty-one linked short stories trace the interconnected lives of villagers tending to their everyday tasks, engaging in quotidian squabbles, and celebrating small joys against a breathtaking landscape. Yet the setting, suspended in time and space, belies unspeakable tragedy: every character contends with an unbearable burden of loss. The war rages largely off the book’s pages, appearing only in fragmented flashbacks. Abgaryan’s stories focus on how the survivors work, both as individuals and as a community, to find a way forward. Written in Abgaryan’s signature style that weaves elements of Armenian folk tradition into her prose, these stories of community, courage, and resilience celebrate human life, where humor, love and hope prevail in unthinkable circumstances.
Narine Abgaryan’s stories shed fresh light on this forgotten corner of the world. “Humanity is in dire need of hope, of kind stories,” she told the Guardian. She’s given them to us here.
A Note From the Publisher
Narine Abgaryan is an international bestselling author with over 1,350,000 copies of her books sold. This is her second title releasing in English.
A distinctive voice from a forgotten corner of the world, Abgaryan's stories celebrate the resilience of a historically persecuted people.
A distinctive voice from a forgotten corner of the world, Abgaryan's stories celebrate the resilience of a historically persecuted people.
Advance Praise
In this vivid and harrowing linked collection, Abgaryan depicts rural life in the war-ravaged borderlands between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. The villagers in close-knit Berd, an Armenian mountain community, carry on despite unbearable losses. The author was born and raised in Berd, and the stories are starkly realistic and often shocking in their portrayals of sudden violence, making their moments of joy all the more remarkable. These memorable tales evoke the power of the human spirit. —Publisher's Weekly
“One of Europe’s most exciting authors” —The Guardian
"As an admirer, I will say that Narine Abgaryan is one of a kind. This book is about Armenia, a country that has seen much suffering. Yet despite this, To Go On Living contains neither desperation nor bitterness, but only grief, love, and hope." —Eugene Vodolazkin, author of Laurus
Like a string of sharp shards of gems; an exquisite read. —Moni Kozi
Narine Abgaryan’s stories describe universal pain of war that transcends boundaries and ethnicities. As an Azerbaijani, I appreciated these narratives of Armenians who lived through war between Azerbaijan and Armenia and carry its scars. The author shows how wounds of war linger from generation to generation. The everyday realities of traumatized people who have to live with memories of war and loss come alive in these pages and remind us that suffering, like love and mercy, is above politics and can be a uniting force between former enemies. —Agshin Jafarov, Azerbaijani novelist
Acclaim for Narine Abgaryan’s Three Apples Fell from the Sky:
“Read this book. It’s balm for the soul.” ―Ludmila Ulitskaya, author of The Big Green Tent
“Suffused with kindness, humor, subtlety, and understated finesse.” ―Eugene Vodolazkin, author of Laurus
“A charming novel... [It] teems with minor characters whose quirks are at times amusing and at times heartbreaking... A warm-hearted story about family, friendship, and community.” ―Foreword Reviews
“A poignant, bittersweet, fable-like story. ... The strongest message that shines through this finely translated novel is that resignation need not lead to cynicism.” ―Asian Review of Books
“With finely phrased descriptions of daily activities and homes with ‘chimneys that clung to the hem of the sky,’ and indelible details of complex, humble characters, this magical tale transcends familiar mystical tropes with its fresh reimagining of Armenian folklore.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Charming… A celebration of community with a supernatural dimension that gives it the air of a fable, it's a compassionate, heartwarming novel.” ―The Herald (Glagow)
“A poignant collection of interconnected stories about a war-affected Armenian village and its resilient people.” —eReaders Forum
Marketing Plan
- Author events linked to Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (April 24)
- National publicity campaign
- Feature in Plough Quarterly, circulation 16,000
- Featured on Plough’s website, 500,000 monthly visitors
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781636081526 |
| PRICE | US$24.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 220 |
Available on NetGalley
Average rating from 44 members
Readers who liked this book also liked:
© 2025 NetGalley LLC
• All Rights Reserved
