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In capitalism, people claimed to be free and equal, but this was only on paper because only the rich could take advantage of the rights available.....
'Do you remember Black Boy?' teacher Nora asked when we read Richard Wright's autobiography in school. 'In the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, a poor black person cannot be free. The police are after him. The law works against him.'

Lea Ypi‘s memoir of her childhood in Albania while the country undergoes major changes is eye-opening and moving. Her family goes from coveting an empty Coca Cola can as a decorative object, to being able to buy all kinds of soft drinks without even standing in a queue. Excellent audiobook read by Rachel Babbage with the author reading the epilogue.

In my family, everyone had a favourite revolution, just as everyone had a favourite summer fruit.

The mastery of the subtle boundary between following rules and breaking them was, for us children, the true mark of growth, maturity and social integration.

I never asked myself about the meaning of freedom until the day I hugged Stalin.

#FirstLineFridays #FridayReads

I knew next to nothing about Albania so this memoir was very enlightening. Born in 1979, Ypi takes us through her childhood in Stalinist Albania to the fall of communism and the immediate aftermath. I especially appreciate the UK cover (shown) because there is a hilarious bit of the book involving a coke can. Definitely recommend.