Chronicle in Stone: A Novel By Ismail Kadare (Kronikë në gur)

Kadare's family home (right), Gjirokastër (Argyrokastro, Αργυρόκαστρο)

after the fire, before restoration

The opening chapters are extraordinary

I love the description of the town built of stone, of the cistern beneath the house.

"The top of one house might graze the foundation of another, and it was surely the only place in the world where if you slipped and fell in the street, you might well land on the roof of a house- a peculiarity known most intimately to drunks."

I know other places exactly like that, in the Zagori (Greece).

A short biography of the author

The novel (Wikipedia)

More (Gjirokastër, pictures, Wikipedia)

Map of house location 

Rruga Fato Berberi 16
Gjirokaster
Albania