Istria Black by Mike Downey, published 14th October with MPress and is described as ‘an ambitious and atmospheric historical thriller’. Set between modern day Istria and the period around and immediately after the Second World War, Istria Black explores the making of modern day Croatia – from the war through to the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia and then on to today, where the legacies of Stalin and Tito still echo. Istria Black is inspired by Mike’s love of the history and culture of the region he has called home for 25 years. Connected through the decades, the three narratives of the novel weave a complex and compelling history of a region divided.
To celebrate publication of Istria Black Mike has written a fabulous piece to share with you all today so I do hope you enjoy!
Istria Black ~ Purchase Link
[ About Istria Black ]
2024, Poreč, Istria County
After finally closing the chapter on his life in England with the Met Police, Marco Mihailić hopes that his childhood home will provide a place to rest and lick his wounds. But in a region shaped by the fight against-fascism, the shadow of the past is never too far from home. When a gang of right-wing thugs propose that the small coastal town hold a commemorative mass to mark the 80th anniversary of the Bleiburg massacre, an event renowned as a meeting place for far-right supporters, Marco, his on-off girlfriend Emina and their childhood friend Zvonko, must fight with their lives to uphold the peace their ancestors fought so hard for.
1941, Berlin, Greater German Reich
Newly minted Ph.D. in meteorology in hand, Pepi Mihailić is conscripted into the quisling NDH air force of Ustaša dictator Ante Pavelić and subsequently seconded to the Luftwaffe’s Wekusta meteorological reconnaissance unit. But it doesn’t take long for his smart mouth to get him exiled to Svalbard in the Arctic Circle and beyond on a deadly weather mission.
1948, Belgrade, Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia
Nino Mihailić, hero of the anti-fascist struggle and up-and-coming young cadre, along with his wife Faida, are committed to building the socialist utopia they imagine in the aftermath of the devastation of the Balkans post-World War Two. However, they, and millions of Yugoslavs, must face down the spectre of Stalin and decide which side they are on: Stalin’s or Tito’s?
Guest Post – THREE COLOURS: ISTRIA – Part Two – ISTRIA BLACK
The last time I did a blog for the excellent Swirl and Thread – it was a piece about starting to kick off one’s literary career a bit late – it was entitled Literary Late Bloomers – that was two years ago and the truth of it is, I’m not getting any younger! But what I pointed out in that piece is true – if one starts a bit late down the novelist career path, it’s as well to have an idea of scope, scale and ambition.
It’s no surprise then that after the first instalment of the THREE COLOURS: ISTRIA trilogy ISTRIA GOLD, which went on to be translated into 20 languages (including Arabic, Albanian and Chinese) and with distribution in over 60 territories the second one in the works, ISTRIA BLACK would eventually arrive. Back when I started ISTRIA GOLD, I had decided that if my first novel was, in itself, a trilogy a trilogy of sorts – then why not do a trilogy of trilogies three books all set in Istria, with the same contemporary characters and differing but linked historical periods. And that was the birth of ISTRIA GOLD, ISTRIA BLACK and ISTRIA BLUE – each one with an overriding theme and controlling idea – the first was Greed, the second, Hate and the third Corruption. It sounds very moralistic and Old Testament. It isn’t. They are all actually great fun – so far but getting a bit darker the older we get.
In “Istria Black,” three timelines intertwine, revealing the fate of a Croatian family during three turbulent historical periods. The scholar Pepi and his beloved Lidia try to find their way to each other during World War II, when the fascist Independent State of Croatia was created. A path that takes them to Argentina. Pepi’s nephew, the partisan Nino, and his wife Fida, faithful to their ideals, which will later be covered with oblivion, work to build a new Yugoslavia during Tito’s time. And in modern Croatia, Nino’s grandson Marco and his friends encounter resurgent fascist movements and realize that the wounds of the past can easily bleed again. I’m hoping that ISTRIA BLACK tells a story of hatred that sprouts generously in wounded hearts, and of its eternal rival—forgiveness, and as a novel it is about exploring the different incarnations of a beautiful country tormented by human mistakes and about people’s desire to believe in something greater than themselves.
To this day, Croatian society has been loath to confront the skeleton of fascism in its closet. ISTRIA BLACK is a dramatic and time-bending novel set in three connected time frames which takes the lid off the “heritage” of the killers who wrote the most sinister chapter in Croatia’s history which has since been glorified and whitewashed by contemporary gangs and politicians.
So, indeed, as time marches relentlessly on and I am currently working on the final part of the trilogy of trilogies which in ISTRIA BLUE takes place amongst the militant artist community in the main city, Pula in the contemporary period, with the same characters from the first two parts; then set amongst paleolithic cave painters on the Istrian peninsular coast around the Early Upper Paleolithic period, between approximately 34,000 and 31,000 years ago and finally with the group of Istrians trading with Venice supplying the oak that made the ships that created the empire that eventually created the on which Venice the city was eventually built.
James Joyce lived in Istria, in Pula, but this master of the pen did not dedicate a single literary work to the beautiful Croatian peninsula of Istria. As his Irish compatriot who has had a house in Istria for over a quarter of a century, I thought to correct this injustice with his THREE COLOURS: ISTRIA in which family mysteries and secrets from the past are unravelled against the backdrop of major global historical events.
[ Bio]
Mike Downey O.B.E. is an author, film maker, and activist. As a film maker he has worked with writers like James Ellroy, Gunter Grass, Colm Toibin, Lee Hall, David Grossmann, and Vice founder Shane Smith, as well as eclectic range of directors including Agnieszka Holland, Volker Schloendorff, Peter Greenaway, Oliver Hirschbiegel, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
He is Chairman of the European Film Academy and Honorary President of the LUX Film Award, presented by the European Parliament. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was awarded an O.B.E. in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2021 for his services to British Cinema.
In 2022 the University of Warwick presented Mike with a Doctor of Literature degree, honoris causa (D.Litt.), for his contribution to World Cinema. His latest movie Franz a biopic of Franz Kafka directed by Agnieszka Holland is the Polish national entry in the 2026 Oscar race. ISTRIA BLACK is his second novel.
Website ~ http://www.mikedowney.eu/
