SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILBUR SMITH PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NOTA BENE PRIZE 2023
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Sarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erectbarricades, splitting the diverse city into ethnic enclaves; eachmorning, the residents - whether Muslim, Croat or Serb -push the makeshift barriers aside.
When violence finally spills over, Zora, an artist and teacher,sends her husband and elderly mother to safety with her daughter in England. Reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more thana handful of weeks, she stays behind while the city falls under siege.As the assault deepens and everything they love is laid to waste, blackashes floating over the rooftops, Zora and her friends are forced torebuild themselves, over and over. Theirs is a breathtaking storyof disintegration, resilience and hope.