Free (Ypi book)


Free: Coming of Age at the End of History or Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History is a 2021 book by Lea Ypi published by Penguin Books. In the book, Ypi details her experience growing up before and after the fall of communism in Albania.

Reception

Free was shortlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize and the 2021 Costa Book Award for biography. In January 2022, BBC Radio 4 serialised the book in their Book of the Week series.
Free won the Ondaatje Prize, the Slightly Foxed First Biography Prize, the Lumo Skëndo Prize for the Best Work in Albanian Nonfiction, and the Ridenhour Book Prize for Truth Telling.
10,000 copies of the book were sold in November 2021.
Ed O'Loughlin praised Ypi's use of subtext in the work. A vocal minority of Albanian critics of the book have accused it of being communist apologia, an accusation that Ypi has denied, and the Guardian has described as “mistaken”.

Translations

  • Albanian: Të lirë. Të rritesh në fund të historisë. Translated by Lea Ypi. Botimet Dudaj. 2021..
  • Danish: Fri. at blive voksen ved historiens afslutning. Translated by Steffen Rayburn-Maarup. 2021..
  • Dutch: Vrij. Opgroeien aan het einde van de geschiedenis. Translated by Luud Dorresteyn. 2021..
  • Icelandic: Frjáls: Æska í skugga járntjaldsins. Translated by Íslenskar bækur, Ævisögur - þýddar. 2022..
  • Italian: Libera. Diventare grandi alla fine della storia. Translated by Elena Cantoni. Feltrinelli. 2022..
  • French: Enfin libre. Grandir quand tout s'écroule. Translated by Emmanuelle Aronson and Philippe Aronson. Seuil. 2022..
  • Polish: Wolna. Dzieciństwo i koniec świata w Albanii. Translated by Wydawnictwo Czarne. Wydawnictwo Czarne. 2022..
  • Portuguese: Livre. Virando adulta no fim da história. Translation by Pedro Maia Soares. Todavia. 2022..
  • Swedish: Fri. En uppväxt vid historiens slut. Translated by Amanda Svensson. Albert Bonniers Förlag. 2022..
  • Greek: Ελεύθερη. μεγαλώνοντας στο τέλος της ιστορίας. Translated by Antōnēs Kalokyrēs. Ekdoseis Patakē. 2022..
  • German: Frei. Erwachsenwerden am Ende der Geschichte. Translated by Eva Bonné. Surkamp. 2023..
  • Norwegian: Fri. En oppvekst ved historiens ende. Translated by Inger Sverreson Holmes. Gyldendal. 2023..
  • Chinese: 自由：在歷史盡頭長大成人. Translated by 賴盈滿. 時報文化出版. 2023..
  • Bosnian: Slobodna - Odrastanje na kraju historije. Translated by Senada Kreso. Buybook. 2023..
  • Czech: Svobodná: jak jsem dospívala na konci dějin. Translated by Ester Žantovska. Host. 2023..
  • Serbian: Slobodna. Odrastanje na kraju istorije. Translated by Ivan Janković. Geopolitika. 2023..
  • Spanish: Libre. El desafío de crecer en el fin de la historia. Translated by Cecilia Ceriani. Editorial Anagrama. 2023..
  • Turkish: Özgür - Her Sey Parcalanirken Büyümek. Translated by İlknur Özdemir. Yapi Kredi Yayinlari YKY. 2023..
  • Romanian: Liberă. Un copil și o țară la sfârșitul istoriei. Translated by Bertha Savu. PublishDrive. 2024..
  • Croatian: Slobodna: Odrastanje na kraju povijesti. Translated by Katarina Penđer. Naklada OceanMore. 2025..
  • Slovak: Slobodná: Dospievanie na konci dejín. Translated by Ivana Krekáňová. Absynt. 2025..