Intrigued in Albania: A journey through collective memory and healing

by Janneke Geurts

reviewed by Stuart Notholt

In Intrigued in Albania, Dutch psychologist Janneke Geurts delivers a powerful and original account of a nation seeking to come to terms with the psychological legacy of dictatorship. Blending memoir, cultural observation and psychological inquiry, the book moves beyond picturesque anecdotes to dig deep into the hidden wounds of a society.

Geurts moved to Albania in 2020, accompanying her partner on a work assignment. She begins her narrative as many newcomers do - curious, open-minded and slightly disoriented. But with her training in trauma psychology, she comes to realize that something in the way Albanians interact - with each other and with outsiders - feels strange. It is this intuition that drives the book’s central investigation: how does a country recover from decades of repression, betrayal, denial and silence?

Geurts grounds her insights not in abstract theory but in the lived experiences of some of those who survived the long years of dictatorship. The book is structured around interviews with Albanians from a variety of social, economic and generational backgrounds, each offering a different perspective on life under communism and after. Through these narratives, Geurts illustrates how Albania’s collective trauma manifests itself in the stories of individuals.

Take Erisa, for instance, a bright and energetic woman who helps the author’s family settle in. Erisa’s childhood was shaped by the unspoken constraints of a system she was too young to understand. Only later does she discover that her family had both “good” and “bad” biographies - a common system of political labelling by the Sigurimi, Albania’s secret police. Her story exemplifies the confusion and divided loyalties that many Albanians experienced, and how the emotional legacy of those years continues to shape adult life.

On the other hand, Tritan’s memories offer a rare glimpse into the paradoxes of privilege within a totalitarian state. Because his father served as a medical professor and was trusted by the communist elite, his family had access to foreign goods and better accommodation but still lived in constant fear of surveillance and political purges. A childhood friend’s sudden disappearance into an internment camp shows how thin the line was between inclusion and expulsion, relative comfort and catastrophe.

In contrast, Lumja’s and Elton’s stories reflect the experiences of working-class Albanians who bore the brunt of state repression and economic hardship. These individuals recount economic struggles and the emotional toll of persistent mistrust - toward institutions, strangers, even friends.

Geurts ties these personal histories to wider psychological concepts, including post-traumatic stress disorder, transgenerational trauma and Albania’s “fragile social fabric”. She argues that everyday behaviours - parents obsessively checking on their children, employers mistrusting staff, people shouting in meetings or avoiding cooperation - are rooted in unresolved psychological wounds. A telling moment is when she asks a farmer why farms do not share equipment on a co operative basis. “We don’t trust each other,” comes the answer. Geurts sees these behaviours as survival mechanisms shaped by a brutal history of fear and betrayal.

But Intrigued in Albania is not a book of despair. Geurts devotes significant space to discussing potential paths to healing, drawn from her experience as a trauma expert. She points to international examples like South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Rwanda’s community courts as models of collective healing. As practical measures, she calls for state-level acknowledgment of past atrocities, public memorials and integration of trauma education into the school curriculum.

Author Janneke Geurts and photographer Mario Beqollari at the book launch in Tirana

Intrigued in Albania is both thoughtful and accessible. The tone is conversational, but the insights are profound. Richly illustrated by photographs by filmmaker and photographer Mario Beqollari, each chapter is framed around specific encounters, which allows the narrative to remain grounded in lived experience. The result is a deeply humane work that balances observation with introspection, theory with story.

Ultimately, Intrigued in Albania stands out as a unique work: it is a deeply personal account, a psychological case study, and a call to national introspection. It offers a nuanced and empathetic portrait of a country that is often misunderstood and rarely explored in depth. For anyone interested in how psychology intersects with politics, history and human resilience, this book should be essential reading. Through her compassionate witnessing, Janneke Geurts not only illuminates Albania’s pain - she points, gently but firmly, toward hope.

Intrigued in Albania is published by Arka e Noes and costs €20.

You can buy copies direct from the author at: intrigued@frensgeurts.com