A Novel by Jela Krečič
Matjaž is fearful of losing his friends over his obsession with his ex-girlfriend. To prove that he has moved on from his relationship with her, he embarks on an odyssey of dates around Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. In this comic and romantic tale a chapter is devoted to each new encounter and adventure. The women he selects are wildly different from one another, and the interactions of the characters are perspicuously and memorably observed.
Their preoccupations – drawn with coruscating dialogue – will speak directly to Generation Y, and in Matjaž, the hero, Jela Krečič has created a well-observed crypto-misogynist of the twenty-first century whose behaviour she offers up for the reader’s scrutiny.
None Like Her marks the arrival of a witty and fresh new voice, and the novel is one of the first titles in the World Series by Peter Owen Publishers in association with Istros Books, bringing some of the best contemporary writing from Slovenia to English-speaking readers. The other titles in the Slovenian Season are Three Loves, One Death by Evald Flisar and Panorama by Dušan Šarotar.
None Like Her isn’t quite just a novel of a man trying out different women for size… but offers a nice and very broad slice of contemporary Slovenian life …makes for an agreeable read.
Michael Orthofer, Complete Review
This is a clever juxtapose tale with a female writing a male main character, whom she said in an interview she based on those French film stars of the fifties. . But what really works in those women that matzaj meets they are more than just a type Jela manages to make these types see real in the dialogue between the characters.
Stu Allen, Winstonsdad Blog
‘…an interesting glimpse of Generation Y trying to find themselves in Slovenia’s capital city, in a country that is very much trying to do the same.’
Michael Browne, Necessary Fiction
