Zoli by Colum McCannMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had no idea what this book was about, but I needed a book that started with Z for my 2023 A-Z reading challenge, and I knew Colum McCann's work from Let the Great World Spin.
Zoli is a beautifully written book that traces the life and loves of a Romani woman, based loosely on Polish poet Papusza (1910 - 1987). Drawing from archival and authoritative sources (e.g. the Romani Archives and Documentation Center at UT Austin), McCann offers a narrative that bears witness to the history of the Romani people in how they were outcasts and exploited in the name of "advocacy". Zoli herself is a wonderful multi-dimensional character who must navigate and choose identities for her own survival. We see her as a child, raised by her grandfather, a young poet/songwriter--exploited and caught in political contexts out of her control, an exile and refugee both, and as an aging mother still determined to express her own agency.
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