The hired man

The Hired Man is an incisive, powerful novel of a small Croatian town and its wartime secrets. Duro Kolak, a lifelong resident of the village of Gost, is off on a morning's hunt when he discovers that a family of British newcomers has taken up residence in a house Duro knows well. He offers his assistance in getting their water working again, and soon he is at the house every day, helping get it ready as their summer cottage and serving as their trusted confidant. But the other residents of Gost are not as welcoming, and as the friendship deepens, volatile truths about the town's past and the house's former occupants whisper ever louder.