Natalie Bakopoulos
Tin House Books
19 August 2025
250
eBook - PDF
Contemporary Fiction
ARC via Edelweiss
In the wake of a carjacking, Archipelago’s unnamed narrator leaves the States for a translation writing residency on the Dalmation coast. Along the way, she has an unsettling, aggressive encounter with a man on a Greek ferry, which sets off a series of strange events. At the residency, she reunites with Luka, an old friend from Croatia. Luka calls her Natalia, the name of a character he’s written that seems to be based on her. The narrator doesn’t correct him, instead allowing this ascribed version of herself to unfold. Un-selfed, she extends her stay, and she and Luka strike up a romantic relationship as she continues her translation work.
The hazy summer stretches on until, after a sudden shift, she reclaims narrative agency and takes a impulsive road trip back to Greece, crossing borders. Spare and lyrical, with subversions of The Odyssey and its Ithaca, Archipelago charts a wending journey back to the narrator’s family home—not simply back to a self, but beyond it.
Archipelago was a book that really resonated with me. The narrative has a dream-like tone at times but also considers some deep questions about self -- how we perceive ourselves compared to the version of us others see -- about language and the way that too can shape us, and about translation, not only in connection to language but also linking back to ideas of identity and whether we are different people both to the various people around us and when we are in different places and situations. The story had a deep personal impact on me, as I had been feeling a little lost in myself lately -- as if I were on auto-pilot and had lost joy in things -- and it gave me a desire to fight to regain that interest in life. It is a book I could see myself rereading, possibly coming away with different things from it each time, as I think every reader will have diverse experiences with a book such as this, depending on their own past experiences and current situations. I would certainly read more from this author in the future, and I am giving Archipelago five stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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