Trieste, By Dasa Drndic

A closely-researched documentary novel; a bereft mother's quest for her long-lost child; a keen investigation into the disputed borders between history and fiction: Trieste, on the shortlist for this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, moves and stirs on several fronts.

Drndic takes an old woman's quest to find a son snatched by Nazis for their "Aryan" breeding policy, and around it weaves a polyphonic story of war and deportation.

In Ellen Elias-Bursac's robust translation (from Croatian), every element adds to a swell of sorrow, pity - and hope.