Free : coming of age at the end of history

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE ONDAATJE PRIZE'The best book I read last year by a mile. . . so beautifully written that anyone would be hooked' Laura Hackett, Sunday Times, Best Summer Books'Wonderfully funny and poignant. . . a tale of family secrets and political awakening amid a crumbling regime' Luke Harding, Observer'We never lose our inner freedom; the freedom to do what is right'Lea Ypi grew up in one of the most isolated countries on earth, a place where communist ideals had officially replaced religion.

Albania, the last Stalinist outpost in Europe, was almost impossible to visit, almost impossible to leave.

It was a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police.

To Lea, it was home. People were equal, neighbours helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world.

There was community and hope. Then, in December 1990, everything changed. The statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote freely, wear what they liked and worship as they wished.

There was no longer anything to fear from prying ears.

But factories shut, jobs disappeared and thousands fled to Italy on crowded ships, only to be sent back.

Predatory pyramid schemes eventually bankrupted the country, leading to violent conflict.

As one generation's aspirations became another's disillusionment, and as her own family's secrets were revealed, Lea found herself questioning what freedom really meant. Free is an engrossing memoir of coming of age amid political upheaval.

With acute insight and wit, Lea Ypi traces the limits of progress and the burden of the past, illuminating the spaces between ideals and reality, and the hopes and fears of people pulled up by the sweep of history. THE SUNDAY TIMES MEMOIR OF THE YEARWINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZECHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, TLS, DAILY MAIL, NEW STATESMAN AND SPECTATOR