The book is famous for its depiction of life around the time of the division of Macedonia, its characterizations, and its use of language and historical setting. While Ion is in the army, Velika struggles as she watches her children and her village ravaged by war. In one famous scene, Ion, conscripted into the Serbian army, and his brother, conscripted into the Bulgarian army, come face-to-face one night on the battlefield. The author, Petre M. Andreevski, was a Macedonian poet, novelist and playwright who won numerous awards for his works, many of which have been translated into other languages. Pirey is his most famous novel and was a best seller in Macedonia. This is the first translation of Pirey into English.