The Permanent Representation of Bulgaria in the EU recommends that Europeans read the novel "Travelling in the Direction of the Shadow" by Iana Boukova this summer. The proposal is within the framework of a joint initiative "Readers of Europe" by the Council Library and the permanent representations to the EU, as the aim is to encourage the literary habits of Europeans.

For a fourth year now, the permanent representations of the EU have been invited to recommend a book from their country for the summer, as the theme of this year's campaign is "female authors". The genre is up to the permanent representation — it could be a new up-and-coming author, a renowned poet or under appreciated fantasy book..

In the book by Iana Boukova, there are eight main characters, each of them driven by their own life story, motivation, inner fears and desires. The stories are interconnected but they are written in fragments and the reader has to think about how the threads are linked. Stories of death and love, of cruelty and mercy. The novel offered by the Bulgarian diplomatic mission is described as a beautiful read, in which the author shows an extraordinary ability to describe extraordinary things.

In addition to "Travelling in the Direction of the Shadow", Boukova has published two collections of short stories and four collections of poems, including "Notes of the Phantom Woman“ (2018), awarded with the "Ivan Nikolov" National Poetry Prize. The author's works have been translated into several languages.