An ironic and humorous take on a romance novel set in a modern Montenegro told by a female character exploring themes of body image, self-identity, inability to form relationships and meet societal expectations for a woman in patriarchy.

Short bio:

A graduate in French language, literature and culture from the Universities of Belgrade and Leuven, Danka Ivanović holds a Master’s in both French Language & Literature and General Literature and Literary Theory, and is currently pursuing a PhD in the same field. Apart from translations from French, book reviews and poetry have been published in Tajni grad, a 2021 poetry anthology, as well as in journals like Polja, Ulaznica, Beogradski književni časopis, Književna istorija and the weekly magazine Radar. Danka Ivanović’s debut novel, Prazne kuće (Empty Houses), was shortlisted among the top ten novels for the NIN Award for Novel of the Year (2025) in Serbia, and received a regional Štefica Cvek Award recommendation, alongside six other novels.