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Milena: & Other Social Reforms
Now available in English, in this bestselling political thriller-drama, MILENA is a young woman, who thinks she has it all when she lands a job as the President's interpreter. Bright, beautiful, willing to take a chance, she is the embodiment of the new Eastern Europe. But a bold new future comes at a cost. As her country suffers the growing pains of greed, Milena is caught up in the machinery of crime, corruption and human trafficking. Will love buy her a way out, or will she, like so many flowers of Montenegro, be lost in the profits of her enemies? 'Knezevic's fiction is so tremendously powerful, perhaps also because it is based in truth,' J. Pogacnik, Jutarnji List.
- GenresFiction
258 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2011
4 people are currently reading
540 people want to read
About the author
Olja Knezevic
10books45followersOlja Knezevic was born and raised in Montenegro, but has lived in California, Belgrade, London and Zagreb.
She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck College, London, and was awarded an Overall Prize for the best MA Creative Writing dissertation of the year 2008. That dissertation grew into the novel ‘Milena & Other Social Reforms�, which ended up being published first in Montenegro, then in Croatia.
In both countries, it was a bestseller, although criticised harshly by the Government of Montenegro and the Government regime’s writers and reviewers. 'Milena' is now available in English.
Besides 'Milena & Other Social Reforms', Olja is the author of two more novels: 'Gospoda Black' (2015) and the award-winning 'Katarina, Velika i Mala' (2019).
Katarina will be published by UK publisher Istros Books as 'Catherine the Great and the Small' in June 2020.
Olja is the author of numerous short stories and columns published in various literary magazines and supplements, the best of which were collected and published in 2013, in a book titled Londonske Priče Juga (London & Stories of the South).
She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck College, London, and was awarded an Overall Prize for the best MA Creative Writing dissertation of the year 2008. That dissertation grew into the novel ‘Milena & Other Social Reforms�, which ended up being published first in Montenegro, then in Croatia.
In both countries, it was a bestseller, although criticised harshly by the Government of Montenegro and the Government regime’s writers and reviewers. 'Milena' is now available in English.
Besides 'Milena & Other Social Reforms', Olja is the author of two more novels: 'Gospoda Black' (2015) and the award-winning 'Katarina, Velika i Mala' (2019).
Katarina will be published by UK publisher Istros Books as 'Catherine the Great and the Small' in June 2020.
Olja is the author of numerous short stories and columns published in various literary magazines and supplements, the best of which were collected and published in 2013, in a book titled Londonske Priče Juga (London & Stories of the South).
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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May 12, 2017This book is inspired by a devastating, incredible and touching true story of a trafficked young woman I have met.
December 13, 2019
A first person narrative of a young woman, Milena, working as a translator in the grubby upper-levels of Montenegrin politics in the early 2000s. At the centre of the story is the gutter business of sex slavery. The author claims her story is based upon the case of a Moldovan woman. When things take a nasty turn Milena flees into an anonymous exile in London, where she works (and recuperates) as a nanny for a Russian businessman and his wife. These two phases of her life are kept separate, although the author does a certain amount of intercutting of time and place to create a little suspense and keep the reader interested � standard stuff. Leaving aside some childhood memories, the narrative runs over four or five years. Needless to say, the Balkan bad guys turn up in London and shit hits all the fans.
First published in Montenegro in 2011 (Croatian in 2012), a self-published English edition appeared in 2014. Therein we have a problem. An otherwise competently structured and very readable book is compromised by a failure to properly proofread the English text, which is littered with distracting misspellings, word omissions and typos. There is also a complete absence of consistency in layout and format. Considering that the edition I bought is print-on-demand, the author would do herself a favor and future readers a courtesy by correcting the master PDF used by printers. This can and should be done.
First published in Montenegro in 2011 (Croatian in 2012), a self-published English edition appeared in 2014. Therein we have a problem. An otherwise competently structured and very readable book is compromised by a failure to properly proofread the English text, which is littered with distracting misspellings, word omissions and typos. There is also a complete absence of consistency in layout and format. Considering that the edition I bought is print-on-demand, the author would do herself a favor and future readers a courtesy by correcting the master PDF used by printers. This can and should be done.
December 10, 2014
Having visited former Yugoslavia I was excited to read this. Knezevic has captured Montenegro in a compelling, startling book. I highly recommend it.
June 8, 2022
I am reading a book from every country in the world & Montenegro was one of those countries that were extremely difficult to find a book written by an author from there or that is set there. Still, I’m glad I found this author that has a couple of novels that are based in contemporary Montenegro. Her work focused on critical human rights issues and was recognised by Amnesty International.
This book was an interesting read that sheds light on the corruption in post-Yugoslavia nations, particularly Montenegro. Although it is fiction, it is inspired by the true story of a Moldovan girl trafficked into Montenegro whom the author met and based her master's thesis on.
The story follows Milena, an ambitious girl trying to navigate her life amidst the corrupt political elite running the country. Although the events at times seem exaggerated, it is still a compelling survival story.
⚠️ T.W. Sex trafficking, gender-based violence and rape
Follow my journey and reads on Instagram on @girl.reads.world
This book was an interesting read that sheds light on the corruption in post-Yugoslavia nations, particularly Montenegro. Although it is fiction, it is inspired by the true story of a Moldovan girl trafficked into Montenegro whom the author met and based her master's thesis on.
The story follows Milena, an ambitious girl trying to navigate her life amidst the corrupt political elite running the country. Although the events at times seem exaggerated, it is still a compelling survival story.
⚠️ T.W. Sex trafficking, gender-based violence and rape
Follow my journey and reads on Instagram on @girl.reads.world
July 27, 2014
I had the rare privilege of reading the English version of this book. Milena's story is the hair-raising rags-to-riches-to-rags-again tale of a woman bearing witness to the rebirth of a nation. On one level, political intrigue, on another, a memoir of a people romanced, seduced and disillusioned by promise. Knezevic opens a window onto an Eastern Europe that can only be known from the inside and the web that binds power, corruption, hope and the last vestiges of innocence of a country that operates more like an extended family than a nation.
On a literary level, the prose is as daring and electric as the subject matter. The language of traffickers and the trafficked is incendiary. Some of Seka's dialogue has burned so deeply into my mind that I will remember her on my deathbed. I'm tempted to describe the end of the book, but don't want to ruin it for other readers. Suffice it to say, I felt changed by the experience of reading it.
On a literary level, the prose is as daring and electric as the subject matter. The language of traffickers and the trafficked is incendiary. Some of Seka's dialogue has burned so deeply into my mind that I will remember her on my deathbed. I'm tempted to describe the end of the book, but don't want to ruin it for other readers. Suffice it to say, I felt changed by the experience of reading it.
December 10, 2014
This gripping, unapologetic, insightful view into the political underground of a country trying to reinvent itself is one of the best books I've read in quite a while. The characters in this book will remain with me always. Some readers may struggle with the language, but for me it was as much a part of the story as the narrative voice in The Shipping News. Loved it.
January 19, 2022
Translated by the author.
Trigger warnings for drug use, rape, and human trafficking. Milena & Other Social Reforms is also based on a real woman’s life.
Milena thinks she has it all when she lands a job as the President’s interpreter. Bright, young, beautiful, willing to take a chance, she is the embodiment of the new Eastern Europe. But a bold new title comes at a cost. As a country suffers the growing pains of greed, Milena is caught up in the machinery of crime, corruption and human trafficking.
Milena & Other Social Reforms spans over five years or so from the early 2000s when Monetnegro is young and finding its feet after Yugoslavia was dissolved, to the mid-2000s after the country has gotten its independence in 2006. It jumps between two times and places too. In Montenegro when Milena is working as an interpreter and getting to know various politicians and important and well-connected people in the country, and in London years later where she’s started a new life as a nanny for a wealthy Russian family.
It takes a while to really understand just what Milena’s life was like in Montenegro as how her job went from just being an interpreter to almost being a prostitute for the President of the country in order to get information from those he considers both allies and enemies, seemed to be one of those things that happened slowly then all at once. Things snowballed for her but because she had an intimate idea of how the politics and rules of the country worked due to having been in so many important meetings, it sometimes felt like an almost foregone conclusion that this is the position she’d end up in even though she definitely didn’t want it. It’s shocking and sad to see the depths of the corruption Milena encountered, with the police framing people, politicians being involved in everything and elections being fixed.
I liked how the story went between her life in Montenegro and her new life in London. Even though you don’t know the extent of what she went through to begin with, in the London sections it’s clear she’s still not OK and is sometimes struggling to deal with her past. The fact she often hangs out on the roof of the block of flats when she can’t sleep and one of her flatmates is concerned about her doing so is proof of that.
Milena is a smart and resourceful young woman but Milena & Other Social Reforms shows how that is not enough when faced with powerful and cruel men and corruption everywhere. Milena can’t trust the police or doctors or anyone who could be bought off, instead it’s other women that help her. Women who have escaped being trafficked or women who have some international political power (because there’s very few Montenegrin women in politics) or once she’s in London, women from other Eastern European countries who are looking to make a better life for themselves for whatever reason.
Milena & Other Social Reforms can be a tough read at times � in part because this self-translated, self-published novel doesn’t always have the correct English words, spellings or phrasing � but also because it shows the underbelly of the politics of a new country that is trying to show itself in the best light to the rest of the world. Still, it’s an interesting and thought-provoking read and it never shies away from the horrors of corruption and what people (often women) are left to face when they’re just trying to make a better life for themselves.
Trigger warnings for drug use, rape, and human trafficking. Milena & Other Social Reforms is also based on a real woman’s life.
Milena thinks she has it all when she lands a job as the President’s interpreter. Bright, young, beautiful, willing to take a chance, she is the embodiment of the new Eastern Europe. But a bold new title comes at a cost. As a country suffers the growing pains of greed, Milena is caught up in the machinery of crime, corruption and human trafficking.
Milena & Other Social Reforms spans over five years or so from the early 2000s when Monetnegro is young and finding its feet after Yugoslavia was dissolved, to the mid-2000s after the country has gotten its independence in 2006. It jumps between two times and places too. In Montenegro when Milena is working as an interpreter and getting to know various politicians and important and well-connected people in the country, and in London years later where she’s started a new life as a nanny for a wealthy Russian family.
It takes a while to really understand just what Milena’s life was like in Montenegro as how her job went from just being an interpreter to almost being a prostitute for the President of the country in order to get information from those he considers both allies and enemies, seemed to be one of those things that happened slowly then all at once. Things snowballed for her but because she had an intimate idea of how the politics and rules of the country worked due to having been in so many important meetings, it sometimes felt like an almost foregone conclusion that this is the position she’d end up in even though she definitely didn’t want it. It’s shocking and sad to see the depths of the corruption Milena encountered, with the police framing people, politicians being involved in everything and elections being fixed.
I liked how the story went between her life in Montenegro and her new life in London. Even though you don’t know the extent of what she went through to begin with, in the London sections it’s clear she’s still not OK and is sometimes struggling to deal with her past. The fact she often hangs out on the roof of the block of flats when she can’t sleep and one of her flatmates is concerned about her doing so is proof of that.
Milena is a smart and resourceful young woman but Milena & Other Social Reforms shows how that is not enough when faced with powerful and cruel men and corruption everywhere. Milena can’t trust the police or doctors or anyone who could be bought off, instead it’s other women that help her. Women who have escaped being trafficked or women who have some international political power (because there’s very few Montenegrin women in politics) or once she’s in London, women from other Eastern European countries who are looking to make a better life for themselves for whatever reason.
Milena & Other Social Reforms can be a tough read at times � in part because this self-translated, self-published novel doesn’t always have the correct English words, spellings or phrasing � but also because it shows the underbelly of the politics of a new country that is trying to show itself in the best light to the rest of the world. Still, it’s an interesting and thought-provoking read and it never shies away from the horrors of corruption and what people (often women) are left to face when they’re just trying to make a better life for themselves.
January 10, 2024
Format: Print
True rating: 2.5 Stars
I definitely came away with mixed feeling about Milena, but have to concede regardless that it was a book I found hard to put down. Inspired by the true story of a woman who, at the height of what she believes to be a new and promising career opportunity, instead becomes a victim of human trafficking and rape. It's hard to read at points and you carry Milena's pain with her through the narrative, but I personally found the way it jumped around a little confusing (I may be in the minority there as most reviews seem to praise it). Also, the authors prejudices and use of slurs come through in the writing. Milena didn't have to be a perfect pariah of goodliness to to be worthy of your empathy of course, and I did read it empathetic to her plight, but dropping the r-word makes her (and by her I really mean the author, since the inclusion was the author's choice) very damn unlikeable.
True rating: 2.5 Stars
I definitely came away with mixed feeling about Milena, but have to concede regardless that it was a book I found hard to put down. Inspired by the true story of a woman who, at the height of what she believes to be a new and promising career opportunity, instead becomes a victim of human trafficking and rape. It's hard to read at points and you carry Milena's pain with her through the narrative, but I personally found the way it jumped around a little confusing (I may be in the minority there as most reviews seem to praise it). Also, the authors prejudices and use of slurs come through in the writing. Milena didn't have to be a perfect pariah of goodliness to to be worthy of your empathy of course, and I did read it empathetic to her plight, but dropping the r-word makes her (and by her I really mean the author, since the inclusion was the author's choice) very damn unlikeable.
January 17, 2023
"‘Surely,� Mirko interrupted me, ‘you must know that we have all been made the prisoners of an on-going, invisible war. Don’t tell me you can’t feel it? Or maybe I was completely wrong about you? Don’t tell me you don’t see that the secret police has the last word here. Oh, there are laws, the laughable laws, totally inessential, as in every war. We are in a war, Milena, the most dangerous kind because we can’t believe we are our own enemy."
December 30, 2017
Milena is a smart, good-looking girl, grown through the last decade of communism, and then the Yugoslavian war, who gets involved with the post-war government of Montenegro. She matches ideally the image I had of the girls from this country: tough and self-aware.
The first half of the novel is an account of the abuse she is subjected to and reveals gradually how she finds out that she has not been hired `precisely for her intellectual skills. The second half tells us about her attempt to build a new life in the West, more precisely in London, among a little community of other Eastern immigrants.
The dramatic plot is much more developed than the political plot. However the issues and mechanisms of those young Balkan Republics, corruption, violence, nepotism, are well represented.
"Vukas has the machinery that keeps this dwarf country easily governable. People will be given some small change before any election, and so they’ll be forever voting for Vukas and only Vukas to lead them.�
Indeed, Filip Vujanović is the president of Montenegro since 2003.
The first half of the novel is an account of the abuse she is subjected to and reveals gradually how she finds out that she has not been hired `precisely for her intellectual skills. The second half tells us about her attempt to build a new life in the West, more precisely in London, among a little community of other Eastern immigrants.
The dramatic plot is much more developed than the political plot. However the issues and mechanisms of those young Balkan Republics, corruption, violence, nepotism, are well represented.
"Vukas has the machinery that keeps this dwarf country easily governable. People will be given some small change before any election, and so they’ll be forever voting for Vukas and only Vukas to lead them.�
Indeed, Filip Vujanović is the president of Montenegro since 2003.
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