Free (Ypi book)

Free: Coming of Age at the End of History or Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History^[2] is a 2021 book by Lea Ypi published by Penguin Books.^[1] In the book, Ypi details her experience growing up before and after the fall of communism in Albania.^[3]

Free: Coming of Age at the End of History

First edition
Author	Lea Ypi
Publisher	Allen Lane
Publication date	28 October 2021 (2021-10-28)
Pages	336[1]
ISBN	978-0-241-48185-1

Reception

Free was shortlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize and the 2021 Costa Book Award for biography.^[4][5] In January 2022, BBC Radio 4 serialised the book in their Book of the Week series.^[6]

Free won the Ondaatje Prize^[7], the Slightly Foxed First Biography Prize,^[8] the Lumo Skëndo Prize for the Best Work in Albanian Nonfiction,^[9] and the Ridenhour Book Prize for Truth Telling.^[10]

10,000 copies of the book were sold in November 2021.^[3]

Ed O'Loughlin praised Ypi's use of subtext in the work.^[11] Critics of the book have accused it of being communist apologia, an accusation that Ypi has denied.^[3]

Translations

• Albanian: Të lirë. Të rritesh në fund të historisë. Translated by Lea Ypi. Botimet Dudaj. 2021. ISBN 9789994306565.
• Danish: Fri. at blive voksen ved historiens afslutning. Translated by Steffen Rayburn-Maarup. 2021. ISBN 9788793772519.
• Dutch: Vrij. Opgroeien aan het einde van de geschiedenis. Translated by Luud Dorresteyn. 2021. ISBN 9789403150017.
• Icelandic: Frjáls: Æska í skugga járntjaldsins. Translated by Íslenskar bækur, Ævisögur - þýddar. 2022. ISBN 9789979227243.
• Italian: Libera. Diventare grandi alla fine della storia. Translated by Elena Cantoni. Feltrinelli. 2022. ISBN 9788858847497.
• French: Enfin libre. Grandir quand tout s'écroule. Translated by Emmanuelle Aronson and Philippe Aronson. Seuil. 2022. ISBN 9782021467635.
• Polish: Wolna. Dzieciństwo i koniec świata w Albanii. Translated by Wydawnictwo Czarne. Wydawnictwo Czarne. 2022. ISBN 9788381915847.
• Portuguese: Livre. Virando adulta no fim da história. Translation by Pedro Maia Soares. Todavia. 2022. ISBN 9786556923574.
• Swedish: Fri. En uppväxt vid historiens slut. Translated by Amanda Svensson. Albert Bonniers Förlag. 2022. ISBN 9789100197469.
• Greek: Ελεύθερη. μεγαλώνοντας στο τέλος της ιστορίας. Translated by Antōnēs Kalokyrēs. Ekdoseis Patakē. 2022. ISBN 9786180703443.
• German: Frei. Erwachsenwerden am Ende der Geschichte. Translated by Eva Bonné. Surkamp. 2023. ISBN 9783518473245.
• Norwegian: Fri. En oppvekst ved historiens ende. Translated by Inger Sverreson Holmes. Gyldendal. 2023. ISBN 9788205574960.
• Chinese: 自由：在歷史盡頭長大成人. Translated by 賴盈滿. 時報文化出版. 2023. ISBN 9786263743694.
• Bosnian: Slobodna - Odrastanje na kraju historije. Translated by Senada Kreso. Buybook. 2023. ISBN 9789926310691.
• Czech: Svobodná: jak jsem dospívala na konci dějin. Translated by Ester Žantovska. Host. 2023. ISBN 9788027519460.
• Serbian: Slobodna. Odrastanje na kraju istorije. Translated by Ivan Janković. Geopolitika. 2023. ISBN 9788661454097.
• Spanish: Libre. El desafío de crecer en el fin de la historia. Translated by Cecilia Ceriani. Editorial Anagrama. 2023. ISBN 9788433904966.
• Turkish: Özgür - Her Sey Parcalanirken Büyümek. Translated by İlknur Özdemir. Yapi Kredi Yayinlari YKY. 2023. ISBN 9789750857539.
• Romanian: Liberă. Un copil și o țară la sfârșitul istoriei. Translated by Bertha Savu. PublishDrive. 2024. ISBN 9786069787564.
• Croatian: Slobodna: Odrastanje na kraju povijesti. Translated by Katarina Penđer. Naklada OceanMore. 2025. ISBN 9789533322094.
• Slovak: Slobodná: Dospievanie na konci dejín. Translated by Ivana Krekáňová. Absynt. 2025. ISBN 9788082035783.