Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan

Title- Three Apples Fell from the Sky

Author- Narine Abgaryan

Translator- Lisa C. Hayden

Publisher- Oneworld Publications

Rating- 4/5

Summary- The small mountain village of Maran in Armenia is home to aged residents as the young people have either died in famine or war or moved away. The village is quite secluded from the outside world and the only connection they have is an old telegraph wire and a narrow mountain road which becomes almost inaccessible during winter. The inhabitants share a strong bond of friendship and stand by each other in happiness and in pain. When telegraph operator Satenik asks her sixty seven year old cousin Vasily to marry Anatolia, a woman in her late fifties, the village gets something to celebrate after a long time.

Review- The author has beautifully described the landscape and the way of life in Armenian countryside. The readers will get an idea about their customs and beliefs. The description of Armenian cuisines are quite mouth watering. While some parts of the story are humorous, the parts where the author talks about famine and war, are quite heart-wrenching.There is also a touch of magical realism in the story.

Some of the main characters in this book are Anatolia, Yasaman, Vasily and Ovanes. While Anatolia is a book lover who used to work as a librarian, Vasily is the village blacksmith whose smithy earlier used to be crowded with customers all the time, however now due to the dwindling population, dust has started settling in his equipments. Yasaman helps in curing the ailments of the villagers through her herbs and tonics. Her husband Ovanes grows his own tobacco which he also sells to the villagers. We get to know the backstory of all of these characters.

It was mesmerizing to read and while doing so it felt like being in the remote mountain village of Maran. I am really grateful to the translator for translating such a lovely book for English readers. I would definitely recommend this book to readers who love to travel the world through books.