Border

“In a world ever more divided, we need more books like this,” said Alev Scott in the Financial Times. Poet and essayist Kapka Kassabova wandered her native Bulgaria to tease out its history as a crossroads between East and West, and her writing proves “moving and witty by turns.” She dwells too long on the spirituality of the border region, crossed by Cold War refugees once and by Syrian refugees today. But she’s “keenly” empathetic toward everyone she meets, from smugglers to border guards.