A 'clinic for the past' offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer's sufferers: each floor reproduces a decade in minute detail, transporting patients back in time. 

An unnamed narrator is tasked with collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the past, from 1960s furniture and 1940s shirt buttons to scents, and even afternoon light. But as the rooms become more convincing, an increasing number of healthy people seek out the clinic as a ‘time shelter’, hoping to escape the horrors of modern life - a development that results in an unexpected conundrum when the past begins to invade the present. 

Intricately crafted, and eloquently translated by Angela Rodel, Time Shelter cements Georgi Gospodinov’s reputation as one of the indispensable writers of our times, and a major voice in international literature.  

Time Shelter was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023, announced on March 14, 2023.

Longlisted
The International Booker Prize 2023
Published by
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publication date
Georgi Gospodinov

Georgi Gospodinov

About the Author

Georgi Gospodinov was born in Yambol, Bulgaria, and his works have been translated to acclaim in 25 languages.
More about Georgi Gospodinov
Angela Rodel

Angela Rodel

About the Translator

Angela Rodel is a musician and literary translator who lives and works in Bulgaria.
More about Angela Rodel

A wide-ranging, thought-provoking, macabre and humorous novel about nationality, identity and ageing, and about the healing and destructive power of memory.

— The International Booker Prize 2023 panel of judges on 'Time Shelter'