What is the Portuguese 'Abril despedaçado' in English?

Answer 1

"Broken April" is an English equivalent of "Abril despedaçado."

Both the Portuguese and the English phrases translate the title to a novel by Albanian author and poet Ismail Kadare (b. January 28, 1936). The novel focuses on the last 30 days in the life of the main character, 24-year-old Gyorg Berisha. A particularly poignant technique of the author is the contrast that he sets up between Berisha and the young newly wed, Diana.

The tradition of the blood feud in the isolated mountains of northern Albania is responsible for the short life of Gyorg Berisha. Chance meetings with Diana and her older husband make it all too painfully obvious how much Berisha loses out in life. Specifically, Diana is headed firmly down the secure path that marriage and undoubtedly subsequent motherhood take her. In contrast, Berisha is headed towards a lonely death that no one will mourn, memorialize or avenge. Indeed, 40 years of blood feuding end with Berisha's death. His murderer will walk away unpunished from this ritualized, traditional crime.