Mare is a conservative, pious girl living with an ill mother in a small fishing village in the vicinity of Zadar. On a frosty winter morning, her mother sends her to Zagreb with a gift for an elderly cousin who helped her when she needed medical treatment.
Olga is a retired professor of biochemistry, an ex-concentration-camp prisoner and a former partisan fighter. She lives alone in her Zagreb flat, waiting for the arrival of her young cousin.
Vinko is a Zagreb taxi-​driver, and in his spare time an antique dealer. He visits lonely elderly ladies, extorting silverware and paintings in order to sell them. However, he isn’t making much money, and is deep in debt, the loan-​sharks pursuing him.
These three characters are the heroes of the modern version of Charles Perrault’s and Brothers’ Grimm famous fairy-​tale. However, this Crvenkapica is a story of transition capitalism. It is a story of two generations of Croatian women, as well as a story of the all-​European relationship between the dominant North and the passive, neglected South.
An extraÂorÂdiÂnary, adrenalin-​charged, ‘dry’ in an Anglo-​Saxon way, (i.e. dry as in ‘dry gin’, not dull by any means!), and preÂciÂsely deviÂsed story of crime and puniÂshÂment – or crime witÂhout puniÂshÂment, or puniÂshÂment witÂhout crime… a powerÂful and impreÂssive story of disÂturÂbing relaÂtiÂvity of morals and immorality…
Teofil Pančić, Vreme, Belgrade
Pavičić made use of CharÂles PerÂraÂult and the BrotÂhers Grimm, but what he creÂated is neverÂtÂheÂless more than a modern verÂsion of an old folk fairy-​tale. CrvenÂkaÂpica, his fifth novel, has all the makings of a good thrilÂler, repreÂsenÂting in addiÂtion a convinÂcing social study of the post-​war CroÂatian society.
Roswitha Kersten Pejanić, Novinki – Neuerscheinungen aus Ost-, Mittel-, und Sudost Europa
Pavičić’s CrvenÂkaÂpica begins with all the chaÂracÂters being innoÂcent and ending up either dead, or as culÂprits, or simply cursed by the feeling of guilt, which makes it a crime story with a very ambiÂguÂous happy ending… Each new publiÂcaÂtion of Pavičić’s novels is expecÂted and greÂeted as an event.
Igor Gajin, Vijenac
Pavičić’s CrvenÂkaÂpica is a bed-​time story, altÂhoÂugh fairy-​tales for adults are not told to lull us to sleep…Nor is his story told to wake anyone up. He simply puts out the light, disÂpels the illuÂsion, and tells the Croats good night.
Boris Dežulović, Slobodna Dalmacija
A thrilÂler that deals with seriÂous issues of guilt, resÂponÂsiÂbiÂlity and conÂsÂciÂence …By all means the most comÂplete and the most seriÂous Pavičić’s work so far…
Jagna Pogačnik, Jutarnji list
This novel has something that grabs you, makes you inetrested and curoius...you never know where the author would take you next.... As in every fable you respect, in this novel there is something mysterious, samo great lie that unveils a greater truth.
Enrica Simonetti (Giornale del Mezzogiorno)
