First published 2026
Bekja lives in a remote Albanian village where the Kanun's ancient codes still govern daily life. When her family arranges her marriage, she chooses the only path to freedom available to her: becoming a burrnesha, a sworn virgin who must renounce womanhood forever to live as a man. This desperate choice tears her family apart and forces her away from the person she loves most. Decades pass. Now living as Matija, she sits down with a journalist who has come to document her story. As she recounts the events that changed everything, buried secrets emerge. The conversation reveals not just what happened in those mountains long ago, but what different choices might have made possible.
Genres: abuse, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, gender-roles
Setting: Albania, Remote Albanian Village
Period: Decades
155 pages · Paperback · Peirene Press
Content warnings: abuse