A stand-out literary debut from an original new voice, following the fortunes of three surviving family members returning from the UK to the former-Soviet republic of Georgia

*LONGLISTED FOR THE ONDAATJE PRIZE *
* AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST *
* SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE *

'A spellbinding achievement' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Poignant and often painfully comic' OBSERVER
'I gasped, laughed, and wept my way through it' KHALED HOSSEINI

Saba's father is missing, and the trail leads back to Tbilisi, Georgia.

Arriving in a city he has not seen for more than two decades, where escaped zoo animals prowl the streets and the voices of those left behind beckon him along a path of cryptic clues, Saba embarks on a quest that will lead him into the heart of a lost homeland.

This is a rare, searching tale of home, memory and sacrifice - of one family's mission to rescue one another, and put the past to rest.

'Hugely impressive' NEW EUROPEAN
'Novels like this might help light the way' GUARDIAN
'At once a puzzle hunt and an affecting meditation on exile' ECONOMIST

Propulsive, profoundly moving and rich with humor and heartbreak, Hard by a Great Forest mesmerised me from the very first page. Inspired by Vardiashvili's own family story, this novel will capture your heart