A Life Reimagined
‘A richly reimagined retelling of a life. . . history brought to life through novelistic style. Suspenseful. . . thought-provoking.‘ Sami Kent, Guardian
‘Virtually unique in English. . . blending fact and fiction, Ypi sweeps the reader along.’ The Economist
Published by Allen Lane/Penguin Press 2025 and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux 2025. Translations: German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Albanian, French, Danish, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazil/Portugal), Swedish, Catalan, Slovenian, Turkish, Romanian, Czech, Greek, Mandarin (China/Taiwan), Croatian, Korean, Serbian, Polish).
Awards
Shortlisted, Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature
Finalist, Tadeusz Bradecki Prize for the best recent book that crosses artistic genres
Longlisted, Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction
Longlisted, The Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award
A Book of the Year / Best Books of the Year in: Sunday Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, National Public Radio, Times Literary Supplement, Prospect Magazine, History Today, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung, NZZ, Dagens Nyheter, Expressen, Svenska Dagblat.
Reviews
UK and Irish press
The Guardian, ‘Indignity: A Life Reimagined by Lea Ypi review – love, war and betrayal’ (Sami Kent)
The Observer, ‘Love, war and life on the edge of history’ (William Boyd)
The Spectator, ‘Is it possible to retain one’s dignity in the face of annihilation?’ (Stuart Jeffries)
Literary Review, ‘Tirana Confidential’ (Jonathan Rée)
The Times Literary Supplement, ‘Indignity by Lea Ypi – book review’ (Linda Kinstler)
Prospect, ‘Lea Ypi goes in search of lost dignity’ (Peter Hoskin)
ArtReview, ‘What is Lea Ypi Trying to Achieve?’ (Hannah Proctor)
The Irish Times, ‘Indignity: A Life Reimagined by Lea Ypi – Artfully reconstructing a secret family history’ (Kevin Power)
LSE Review of Books, ‘Book Review: Indignity: A Life Reimagined – Lea Ypi’ (Andi Haxhiu)
American press
New York Times, ‘A Quest to Find the Truth Behind Her Grandmother’s Smile’ (Elizabeth Graver)
The Washington Post, ‘In “Indignity,” Lea Ypi audaciously and generously reimagines a life’ (Becca Rothfeld)
The Wall Street Journal, ‘”Indignity” Review: A Light on Dark Secrets’ (Tunku Varadarajan)
The Christian Science Monitor, ‘In “Indignity,” Lea Ypi reckons with her Albanian family’s past’ (Barbara Spindel)
Jacobin, ‘Lea Ypi’s Reckoning With Family and the Legacy of Revolution’ (Lily Lynch)
The Nation, ‘Lea Ypi’s Family Secrets’
The Baffler, ‘A Philosopher After All’ (Gabriel Petrick)
Chicago Review of Books, ‘History and Redemption in “Indignity”‘ (Jake Goodman-Palmer)
The Arts Fuse, ‘Book Review: Lea Ypi’s “Indignity” — Reimagining a Life in the Ruins of History’
Kirkus Reviews, ‘Indignity’ (starred review)
AnOther, ‘Lea Ypi’s Moving New Book Reimagines the Life of Her Grandmother’ (Rose Dodd)
Interviews
The Spectator, ‘Lea Ypi: Indignity’ — The Book Club (Sam Leith)
Past Present Future, ‘Indignity w/Lea Ypi’ (David Runciman)
Past Present Future, ‘Dignity and Indignity w/Lea Ypi’ (David Runciman)
BBC Radio 4, ‘Arundhati Roy and maternal inheritance’ — Start the Week (Tom Sutcliffe)
The Irish Times, ‘Lea Ypi investigates a family mystery and hidden history’ — Inside Politics (Hugh Linehan)
Jacobin Radio, ‘Forgotten Albania w/ Lea Ypi’ — Behind the News (Doug Henwood)
Wisdom of Crowds, ‘Lea Ypi on Dignity, History and Internet Trolls’
ECFR, ‘Indignity with Lea Ypi’ — Mark Leonard’s World in 30 Minutes (Mark Leonard)
FREIHEIT DELUXE, ‘Lea Ypi – Indignity’ (Jagoda Marinić) — German-language
Institute for Futures Studies, ‘A conversation with Lea Ypi: Indignity – A Life Reimagined’ (Gustaf Arrhenius)
New Statesman, ‘Lea Ypi interview: “Labour is committing political suicide”‘ (Megan Gibson)
The Irish Times, ‘Lea Ypi on Albania’s archives: “You might find something horrible on a person you’re extremely attached to”‘ (Alex Clark)
AnOther, ‘Lea Ypi’s Moving New Book Reimagines the Life of Her Grandmother’ (Rose Dodd)
Prospect, ‘Lea Ypi goes in search of lost dignity’ (Peter Hoskin)
Times Higher Education, ‘Lea Ypi: “Use the personal to highlight political problems”‘ (Matthew Reisz)
Lea Ypi 