A review by triscuit807
Pran of Albania by Maud Petersham, Miska Petersham, Elizabeth Cleveland Miller

3.0

This is the story of a young tribal girl, Pran (age 14) who lives in the mountains of NE Albania. There is a lot of detail about everyday life, customs, food, etc., but the story hinges on how the women and men interact. Pran and her family are Christian, uneducated farmers. She is the eldest child and has two younger twin brothers - who are valued more, although Pran is well-loved since she has been kept at home (rather than married off) a few years longer than many girls would be. There are hints of tensions between Christians and Muslims, although the Muslim doctor Pran visits is described as "white-faced", i.e. good. The major source of tension are the Slavs who are across the mountains (Kosovo to the E, Montenegro to the N - without a map in the book it's hard to tell which). The other source of tension are the eternal blood feuds between families/clans/tribes. My biggest problem with the book is the lack of historical/cultural background and linguistic definitions; the author has not info-dumped enough. Also I'm having difficulty placing this historical novel in time. Most analyses I've read say early 19th c., but I think it's early 1900s. Albania was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912/13, but I did see a reference to a Kingdom of Albania in existence before 1912. I can state that Turks are never mentioned, and they would be since much of the drama in the book is between Pran's people (the Thethi) and their enemies (and Turks would be that). Even the concept of Albania as a state is absent in the books. It's Pran's people and their friends (the Merturi) vs. everyone else (esp. the Slavs). I read this for my 2018 Reading Challenge and Newbery challenge (Honor book 1930)