Teuta’s review of She Who Remains > Likes and Comments

As a fellow Albanian, I completely understand your outrage. I am appalled by the way our culture and the tradition of the burrnesha have been portrayed. I was recommended this book by a bookstore owner who mistakenly believed the author was Albanian. I read it, and I was left angry and deeply disappointed.

What makes this even more appalling to me is that the author has never even visited Albania. How can you write about our history, customs and code of honour without ever setting foot in our homeland? Even the names in the book don't sound Albanian!

The burrnesha tradition is rooted in family honour, land, inheritance, the Kanun and the sacrifices women made within a deeply patriarchal society. To reduce this centuries-old tradition to a queer love story is, in my view, a fundamental misrepresentation of our history.

And here we are in 2026, watching an outsider receive international acclaim for a portrayal that leaves Albanians like us feeling that our history has been misunderstood. We are a small nation, and I am tired of seeing our stories interpreted by others while our own voices struggle to be heard. Our culture is not an exotic backdrop for someone else's artistic ambitions. Our history deserves research, understanding and respect.

She's not a lesbian because she became a sworn virgin. She was always a lesbian.