A creation of exquisite language, where every word is precisely picked, while the plot is a wonderfully recreated historical chronicle, full of beauty and originality. - Liudmila Elenkova, lira.bg

Viktoria Beshliyska’s novel radiates the enchantment of honest writing and the good plot, combined with conscientious research of ethnographic and linguistic traditions. - Adriana Pavlova, EVA.bg

Clay will be one of those books you just give to someone, without saying why.
No introductions, no explanations, no annotations needed - just like a beautifully painted clay pitcher full of miraculous water. The words alone will do their magic. — Reader Sense

★Translated from Bulgarian by Angela Rodel – Winner of the International Booker Prize 2023
★A record-breaking, award-winning novels that weave historical facts, legends and folklore into universal stories of love, magic, art and fate.
★80,000 PRINT RUN
★2021 Book of the Year of the Bulgarian National TV show The Library
★Winner of the 2021 Bulgarian Booksellers' Choice Award
★Eurocon 2022 Best Debut Artists Award

Legend has it that in the 17th century the local potters from the small Bulgarian village of Busintsi received the Turkish sultan’s blessing to be the only ones who could travel freely within the Ottoman Empire to sell their wares. There was so much primordial power, beauty, and simplicity in their pottery that it opened hearts and doors everywhere. The mystical force of these craftsmen’s art runs strong in the pages of Victoria Beshliiska's novel.
He is Veliko – a master potter by heritage and by calling. She is Zhara, meaning “embers” – with a name born of fire and a spirit like a raging mountain stream. Their encounter is like wind clashing into flame, and their love becomes a remedy for collective pain.
Clay is a book about the power of the human spirit, demonstrated through universal topics such as duty and disobedience, bravery and fear, love and jealousy, the striving towards creation or the descent towards destruction. But above all, it is a novel about redemption, about the forgiveness everyone needs.

Viktoria Beshliyska is a philologist by education and a discoverer by vocation. She has worked as a teacher, fiction editor, and marketing expert. Beshliyska is the author of the blog – Word do Worlds, for collecting old and rare Bulgarian words, which has become extremely popular on social media. At present, Beshliyska is fully committed to her research. Exploring and writing about historical legends and little-known places, she is determined to bring a renewed focus on the values of the past, from which we could all draw spiritual strength in today’s time of crisis.
Clay is her debut novel, followed by Heart, her second book, which has sealed her place as one of Bulgaria’s most successful writers, selling over 30,000 copies in the first three months since publication.