In her travel reportage “Border”, Bulgarian writer Kapka Kassabova returns to her native country to visit the borderlands of Eastern Thrace, where Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey meet. She portrays this region as an almost magical in-between land that for centuries has served as a crossroads of civilisations and migrations.

“What Belongs to You” tells the story of an American teacher in Sofia who, in search of gay love, starts a relationship of paid sexual favours with a young Bulgarian hustler.

“The Physics of Sorrow” is a Bulgarian family history, interwoven with elements of Greek mythology (such as the myth of the Minotaur). It portrays life growing up in Communist Bulgaria and unfolds as a 20th-century labyrinth where a multitude of characters, memories, and anecdotes search for a way out.

“Apostoloff” by German author Lewitscharoff tells the story of two sisters who travel from Stuttgart to Sofia to bury their father, a successful Bulgarian immigrant in Germany, who nevertheless committed suicide. After the interment ceremony, the sisters are taken on a tour across Bulgaria, by Rumen Apostoloff, an old family friend, who tries to convince them of the beauty of Bulgarian nature and culture.

Ulrich, a 100-year-old Bulgarian man has spent almost his entire life in Bulgaria, escaping it only in his daydreams. The first part of the novel “Solo” recounts Ulrich’s life story against the backdrop of Bulgaria’s turbulent twentieth century. The second part follows Boris and Irakli, characters born of Ulrich’s imagination, as they navigate modern-day New York.

“Street Without a Name” is, in its first part, the memoir of Bulgarian author Kapka Kassabova, recounting her childhood in Communist Bulgaria during the 1970s and 1980s. In its second part, it is a travelogue of her return to her native country in 2006, after having spent many years abroad. The book offers a vivid portrait of Bulgaria before and after the fall of Communism. It is the author’s testimony of her lost childhood and her rediscovery of Bulgaria, packed with personal memories and historical anecdotes.

“Party Headquarters”, a novel by Bulgarian author Georgi Tenev, takes place during Bulgaria’s turbulent transition from communism to democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is part political thriller and part love story. In the opening scene, the protagonist visits his dying father-in-law, a once-powerful Communist apparatchik, who asks him to retrieve a suitcase containing more than a million euros from a bank vault.

“The Glass River” follows the adventures of Hélène Thibault, a French student, in the deserted Bulgarian village of Gradishte. While researching the 10th-century Christian sect of the Bogomils, Hélène becomes involved in a series of unexpected events, including a love triangle.

“The Turkish Gambit” is a historical novel set in Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Erast Fandorin, a Russian detective, investigates the activities of a Turkish secret agent during the siege of the city of Plevna.

“The Porcupine” tells the story of the court trial of a former Communist party leader in an unnamed country, widely assumed to be Bulgaria. The fallen dictator’s guilt seems unquestionable, but the real issue is whether he is receiving a fair hearing or being subjected to a show trial to legitimise the fragile new democracy. The novel was first published in Bulgarian and is loosely based on the trial of the former communist leader of Bulgaria, Todor Zhivkov.