Jamila (Chinghiz Aitmatov)

Set in a Kyrgyz village during the Second World War, it is narrated by the teenage Seit, who witnesses the love between his sister-in-law Jamila, whose husband is at the front, and Daniyar, a silent man back wounded from the war.

Daniyar's song on the night steppe awakens Jamila's heart, and defying custom they leave the village together; their love inspires Seit to become a painter.

The novella brought Aitmatov world fame. Louis Aragon translated it into French, and it has been translated into dozens of languages, staged and filmed.