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Between Before and After
A multiple award-winning memoir.
In May 1992 Edita Mujkic fled war-torn Sarajevo with two young children, in a borrowed car, with two bags and fifty American dollars in her pocket.
Her husband Goran stayed behind, trapped in the impenetrable siege. He wasn't allowed to leave. They believed it was only for a couple of months. After five months of waiting for Goran in Split, Croatia, Edita and her children moved to Penrith in Cumbria, Northern England.
Many more months went by while Goran's every attempt to escape failed. Edita knew she had to help him. But how? What could she do with her broken English, without money and contacts, and two children to look after by herself?
She explored every option but every idea seemed fruitless until one day the puzzle pieces started falling into their places.
This moving and compelling true story of courage, love and humanity is a reminder of the nightmares that those fleeing conflict endure and of the difference that the simplest acts of kindness make.
In May 1992 Edita Mujkic fled war-torn Sarajevo with two young children, in a borrowed car, with two bags and fifty American dollars in her pocket.
Her husband Goran stayed behind, trapped in the impenetrable siege. He wasn't allowed to leave. They believed it was only for a couple of months. After five months of waiting for Goran in Split, Croatia, Edita and her children moved to Penrith in Cumbria, Northern England.
Many more months went by while Goran's every attempt to escape failed. Edita knew she had to help him. But how? What could she do with her broken English, without money and contacts, and two children to look after by herself?
She explored every option but every idea seemed fruitless until one day the puzzle pieces started falling into their places.
This moving and compelling true story of courage, love and humanity is a reminder of the nightmares that those fleeing conflict endure and of the difference that the simplest acts of kindness make.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 18, 2022
4 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Edita Mujkic
1 book5 followersEdita Mujkić is an award-winning author and a National Ambassador for the Refugee Council of Australia.
Originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, she has lived in Melbourne, Australia since 1994.
Her first book, Between Before and After, is the winner of several international awards. In the UK, it was the runner-up in the Hunter Davies Lakeland Book of the Year 2023 and was awarded the Bookends Prize for People & Business. In Australia, while writing her memoir, Mujkić won several awards and was shortlisted for others.
Originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, she has lived in Melbourne, Australia since 1994.
Her first book, Between Before and After, is the winner of several international awards. In the UK, it was the runner-up in the Hunter Davies Lakeland Book of the Year 2023 and was awarded the Bookends Prize for People & Business. In Australia, while writing her memoir, Mujkić won several awards and was shortlisted for others.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 12, 2022
A powerful and emotional story that goes beyond just the escape of a war and besieged city.
It shows the ways in which resilience wins over despair, hope wins over misery, rationale wins over fear, patience wins over disappointment, and how human compassion can make a profound impact on someone’s life. If you have ever wondered what it is in life that is worth holding on to, you may discover some answers here.
It shows the ways in which resilience wins over despair, hope wins over misery, rationale wins over fear, patience wins over disappointment, and how human compassion can make a profound impact on someone’s life. If you have ever wondered what it is in life that is worth holding on to, you may discover some answers here.
March 2, 2022
I adored this book! This beautifully written book is about the challenges of a family escaping the war in Sarajevo showed how frightening, anxiety-provoking and life-long influences that this period of time can have, and that war can happen in 1st and 2nd world countries. I read the book in one day, as I couldn’t put it down.
April 6, 2022
This is a powerful and precise account of a family separated by war, and the experience of trying to adapt to life in a different country, while trying to reunite. An emotional and gripping read which I highly recommend.
I knew a tiny part of this writer's story first hand, growing up in Penrith, and remember the group arriving in our schools and community. But reading this book was a real education, and opened my eyes to the intense reality of Edita and her family's time here and what they really went through - along with the realisation that there was so much more to their world than I ever knew about back then.
This book is a testimony of loss - a lost way of life, loss of a home and homeland, loss of friends, neighbours and family members, loss of innocence, lost time with loved ones, lost lives, lost times, cleverly depicting the 1990s and that different world where instead of mobile phones, emails and social media, it was faxes and landlines, letters and rumours, that kept people in touch and informed.
The sharp contrast between the vivid descriptions of daily life for Goran in Sarajevo during the war and Edita and her children trying to settle into family life in rural Cumbria helps give a sense of what a surreal, isolating, devastating experience it must have been. And yet, despite all that loss and change and sadness, what shines through too is an immense resilience, and a strong will to live, learn, connect, and carry on. What a privilege as a reader to be allowed to bear witness to this very personal, but also universally relevant, story of loss, love, determination, and hope. Thank you for sharing your story Edita (I cried my way through it!) - and I hope it gives us all a push to do what we can to help those in similar circumstances today.
I knew a tiny part of this writer's story first hand, growing up in Penrith, and remember the group arriving in our schools and community. But reading this book was a real education, and opened my eyes to the intense reality of Edita and her family's time here and what they really went through - along with the realisation that there was so much more to their world than I ever knew about back then.
This book is a testimony of loss - a lost way of life, loss of a home and homeland, loss of friends, neighbours and family members, loss of innocence, lost time with loved ones, lost lives, lost times, cleverly depicting the 1990s and that different world where instead of mobile phones, emails and social media, it was faxes and landlines, letters and rumours, that kept people in touch and informed.
The sharp contrast between the vivid descriptions of daily life for Goran in Sarajevo during the war and Edita and her children trying to settle into family life in rural Cumbria helps give a sense of what a surreal, isolating, devastating experience it must have been. And yet, despite all that loss and change and sadness, what shines through too is an immense resilience, and a strong will to live, learn, connect, and carry on. What a privilege as a reader to be allowed to bear witness to this very personal, but also universally relevant, story of loss, love, determination, and hope. Thank you for sharing your story Edita (I cried my way through it!) - and I hope it gives us all a push to do what we can to help those in similar circumstances today.
March 22, 2022
A beautiful, earnest, story that brought tears to my eyes again and again. Tears as I felt the pain and fear so honestly conveyed in these pages, but also tears of joy at a family reunited, and tears of awe as the reality of the resilience required of this family sank in. I devoured it in just a couple of sittings, finding myself compelled to know what happened next at the turn of every page. Thank you Edita, for this, the latest of your gifts to the world.
March 10, 2022
This is an extremely moving and poignant book. A beautiful memoir that I could not put down. This is a book that reminds us that even in our darkest moments - fleeing a devastating war, losing loved ones, risking everything that the most important thing is life is simply to love and be loved.
March 17, 2022
Strong story of love and perseverance in time of war.
Thirty years in making, published just at right moment.
Dramaturgy is such that I envisioned a mini TV series.
Opening scene as well as closing are in a range of a good director.
Read it and let us know what you think.
Thirty years in making, published just at right moment.
Dramaturgy is such that I envisioned a mini TV series.
Opening scene as well as closing are in a range of a good director.
Read it and let us know what you think.
March 7, 2022
I couldn't put this down. Very gripping. Made me feel for what the people of Ukraine are going through now. I loved reading of how many people helped Edita and her family. It's very well written.
January 29, 2024
Who could fail to be moved by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or the horror unfolding in Gaza? However, we will have long forgotten today’s news headlines in years from now while those citizens impacted will still be struggling to reconstruct their lives, forced to flee the country of their heritage living as refugees and hopeful of finding somewhere they can call home.
The beauty of Edita’s story is that she brings a personal perspective on what it means to be a refugee, a mother trying to do the best for her children while hoping to be reunited with her husband. It is a story for our times, one which is a reminder of the lasting impacts of war, the lifelong consequences for individuals who are forced to uproot their lives and rely on the kindness of strangers for survival.
For me, the book made me reflect on my Hungarian grandmother who fled when Russians invaded her country in September 1944. She fled with her daughter and one suitcase filled with oddments that were of little use in her new life in displaced persons camps in Germany. After applying to several countries, she came to Australia and lived in the Bonegilla migrant camp. She spoke little of the years she lost, the hardships endured and after reading Edita’s book I would love to ask her all about it but she died a long time ago.
I recommend this heart wrenching book, published by Hawkeye. It is a necessary and timeless story being repeated hundreds of times by those forced to flee to survive.
The beauty of Edita’s story is that she brings a personal perspective on what it means to be a refugee, a mother trying to do the best for her children while hoping to be reunited with her husband. It is a story for our times, one which is a reminder of the lasting impacts of war, the lifelong consequences for individuals who are forced to uproot their lives and rely on the kindness of strangers for survival.
For me, the book made me reflect on my Hungarian grandmother who fled when Russians invaded her country in September 1944. She fled with her daughter and one suitcase filled with oddments that were of little use in her new life in displaced persons camps in Germany. After applying to several countries, she came to Australia and lived in the Bonegilla migrant camp. She spoke little of the years she lost, the hardships endured and after reading Edita’s book I would love to ask her all about it but she died a long time ago.
I recommend this heart wrenching book, published by Hawkeye. It is a necessary and timeless story being repeated hundreds of times by those forced to flee to survive.
December 16, 2022
This is a beautiful book! As others have said, it's hard to put it down. Mujkič has captured an experience I had no understanding of, and I feel enriched by the opportunity to look through her eyes!
July 7, 2022
The parallels between what is currently happening in Ukraine and the experiences of the author escaping the war in Sarajevo are hard to ignore. In this memoir Edita Mujkic describes her family being torn from a happy and settled life to suddenly being a stranger in a foreign land, dependant on others while she tries every which way to help her husband escape. At times tense, dramatic and heart warming, this is an important story and never more relevant than now.
April 19, 2022
A poignant and timely memoir highlighting the senseless cruelty of war...
The aptly named BETWEEN BEFORE AND AFTER chronicles the author's escape from besieged Sarajevo with her two children in 1992, and the 600 day separation from her beloved husband which followed.
The power of this story lies in the ease with which readers can transpose themselves onto this family. A loving couple, blessed with two healthy children, working hard and enjoying a life made sweet by strong family bonds and meaningful friendships. Then, the unthinkable happens. A war in the name of unfathomable cultural intolerances quickly renders the city unrecognisable. International compassion and assistance that simply never arrives. The family is forced to choose a course of action, from a set of grossly inadequate and, frankly, terrifying options. Fleeing the city with no money, in a borrowed car running on petrol dregs, Edita and her children, along with their entire convoy, were held hostage for four days by the Bosnian Serb para-army. But finally reaching the safety of friends in Split is a bittersweet victory when her husband, Goran, and countless friends and family members, are left behind to endure constant shelling, food, water and electricity shortages. What follows is a richly layered story of courage in the face of helplessness and fear, and the unexpected compassion of strangers who become friends.
This is a poignant and powerful memoir, artfully written and ultimately uplifting. I can't recommend it highly enough.
The aptly named BETWEEN BEFORE AND AFTER chronicles the author's escape from besieged Sarajevo with her two children in 1992, and the 600 day separation from her beloved husband which followed.
The power of this story lies in the ease with which readers can transpose themselves onto this family. A loving couple, blessed with two healthy children, working hard and enjoying a life made sweet by strong family bonds and meaningful friendships. Then, the unthinkable happens. A war in the name of unfathomable cultural intolerances quickly renders the city unrecognisable. International compassion and assistance that simply never arrives. The family is forced to choose a course of action, from a set of grossly inadequate and, frankly, terrifying options. Fleeing the city with no money, in a borrowed car running on petrol dregs, Edita and her children, along with their entire convoy, were held hostage for four days by the Bosnian Serb para-army. But finally reaching the safety of friends in Split is a bittersweet victory when her husband, Goran, and countless friends and family members, are left behind to endure constant shelling, food, water and electricity shortages. What follows is a richly layered story of courage in the face of helplessness and fear, and the unexpected compassion of strangers who become friends.
This is a poignant and powerful memoir, artfully written and ultimately uplifting. I can't recommend it highly enough.
May 26, 2023
A truly riveting book covering life in Sarajevo, Split, Cumbria and Melbourne. Edita Mujkic has brought to life her experiences before, during and after the break up of Yugoslavia in the 1990’s. She has added just the right amount of detail to help the reader put themselves in her shoes.
30 years later, it is happening again with women forced to leave their husbands behind in Ukraine and escape with their children to foreign lands.
This book has given me a clear insight into the heartbreaking dilemma of having to choose to leave or stay when neither option will bring peace of mind.
30 years later, it is happening again with women forced to leave their husbands behind in Ukraine and escape with their children to foreign lands.
This book has given me a clear insight into the heartbreaking dilemma of having to choose to leave or stay when neither option will bring peace of mind.
April 17, 2022
This is a story of war and family.
It is the part we don't hear about
The things that happen to ordinary people just like you and I.
The struggle, the fear, the tears.
The strength, the love, the tenacity.
At times I had to put this book down,
but it made me think, it made me understand.
It does exactly what a good book should do.
It is the part we don't hear about
The things that happen to ordinary people just like you and I.
The struggle, the fear, the tears.
The strength, the love, the tenacity.
At times I had to put this book down,
but it made me think, it made me understand.
It does exactly what a good book should do.
June 9, 2022
This is such a fascinating memoir about a family separated by the Bosnian War. Edita Mujkic had lived in Sarajevo for her entire life and when war broke out in 1992, she was living happily with her husband Goran and their two children Dario and Elena. The war came as a shock and like many people around them, the family's initial reaction was that this would be a short-lived thing. As weeks passed, as snipers started taking aim at people on the streets and food and commodities were becoming scarce, Edita realised that it would be better to get the children out.
Men were not permitted to leave Sarajevo but there were occasional opportunities for women and children to do so. And so she escaped to the Croatian coast to stay with friends, thinking this would just be for a few weeks, maybe the summer.
She wouldn't be reunited with her husband for almost two years.
Edita writes so compellingly that you absolutely feel her helplessness. Yes she was safe from immediate danger on the outside, but she had hardly any money and was completely dependent on the kindness of others. She could send food and supplies to Goran, but there was no guarantee that he would receive them. Sending packets of cigarettes was the most useful thing as he could trade them for food or other necessities. Communication in this pre-internet era was insanely difficult. Phone lines were often down and if they were working, calls were extraordinarily expensive.
After a few months she was given the opportunity to relocate as a refugee in England. Further away from Goran, but the chance of a better life for the children while they waited to be reunited as a family.
Edita and Goran had one enormous thing in their favour which was that they had already started the process of applying for visas to move to Australia. However the visa process couldn't be completed while Goran was trapped in Sarajevo. So it was two years in limbo, trying everything to get Goran out, trying to find someone who could help them, hoping Goran can stay alive, hoping that the Australians wouldn't cancel the provisional approval.
At times I felt a bit weary reading about the many bureaucratic hoops that Edita had to jump through but then I thought how my weariness must pale in comparison to that of someone going through it all in a language that they didn't speak fluently and in a country that wasn't their home.
When Goran finally got out of Sarajevo (and what a story that is), he weighed only 57kg and his stomach had shrunk from starvation to the point where he was unable to even eat an entire sandwich.
Reading this was particularly poignant knowing that once again we have war in Europe and I couldn't help but think of the many Ukranians who must be in similar situations.
Thank you Edita and Hawkeye Publishing for sending me a copy of your book to read and for writing this story.
Men were not permitted to leave Sarajevo but there were occasional opportunities for women and children to do so. And so she escaped to the Croatian coast to stay with friends, thinking this would just be for a few weeks, maybe the summer.
She wouldn't be reunited with her husband for almost two years.
Edita writes so compellingly that you absolutely feel her helplessness. Yes she was safe from immediate danger on the outside, but she had hardly any money and was completely dependent on the kindness of others. She could send food and supplies to Goran, but there was no guarantee that he would receive them. Sending packets of cigarettes was the most useful thing as he could trade them for food or other necessities. Communication in this pre-internet era was insanely difficult. Phone lines were often down and if they were working, calls were extraordinarily expensive.
After a few months she was given the opportunity to relocate as a refugee in England. Further away from Goran, but the chance of a better life for the children while they waited to be reunited as a family.
Edita and Goran had one enormous thing in their favour which was that they had already started the process of applying for visas to move to Australia. However the visa process couldn't be completed while Goran was trapped in Sarajevo. So it was two years in limbo, trying everything to get Goran out, trying to find someone who could help them, hoping Goran can stay alive, hoping that the Australians wouldn't cancel the provisional approval.
At times I felt a bit weary reading about the many bureaucratic hoops that Edita had to jump through but then I thought how my weariness must pale in comparison to that of someone going through it all in a language that they didn't speak fluently and in a country that wasn't their home.
When Goran finally got out of Sarajevo (and what a story that is), he weighed only 57kg and his stomach had shrunk from starvation to the point where he was unable to even eat an entire sandwich.
Reading this was particularly poignant knowing that once again we have war in Europe and I couldn't help but think of the many Ukranians who must be in similar situations.
Thank you Edita and Hawkeye Publishing for sending me a copy of your book to read and for writing this story.
August 13, 2022
Some books are important, aren't they, and every so often you come across one and are glad it was written, despite the suffering that it was born of. This is one of those books.
It's the story of Edita Mujkic, who fled Sarajevo during the war in the former Yugoslavia with her two children, while her husband and many other members of the family stayed, unclear about what might happen.
This is a woman's experience of war, and that's why it's important: women and children are the innocent victims of war and bear the consequences in ways that are not often reported. Edita and her children may have escaped Sarajevo, but in many ways she took the war with her. Hers is the story of fleeing to keep your children safe and then spending years in limbo, of the chronic anxiety and fear war wreaks even if you're geographically separated from it, when you are stateless, homeless and isolated and living in perpetual, crippling fear of what is happening to your loved ones.
Edita has put not just the events on the page but the emotion. She has captured the pointlessness of war, and the way it is often demarcated by religion or ethnicity, which leaves many people mystified.
She and her children were taken to the Lake District initially, where they stayed while fighting to find a means for her husband to escape from Sarajevo and join them. This they did with incredibly diminished means. It was incredibly heartening to read of the support they found in the community in Penrith, but astonishing and dismaying to read about the bureaucracy they encountered. It is ludicrous that the right processes are not in place to help families separated through war, barely surviving on the absolute minimum, ludicrous that they were made to jump through the most convoluted hoops and understand formal, obstructive language and nonsensical rules, while watching news of their home being shelled.
I'm not writing as coherently about this as I want to. I read it compulsively over the past few days and scribbled down some notes as I went. As the dust settled, I predict it will be one of those books that stays with the reader.
War happens to ordinary people; my own childhood growing up across the water from northern Ireland with some of my own family there taught me that. I'm thankful for a book like this, which makes it clear that war can happen to anybody. It is also of course terribly apposite, given the Ukraine.
Edita has put her experience on the page with humility and frankness, and it is a gripping, informative and moving account. I urge you to read it.
It's the story of Edita Mujkic, who fled Sarajevo during the war in the former Yugoslavia with her two children, while her husband and many other members of the family stayed, unclear about what might happen.
This is a woman's experience of war, and that's why it's important: women and children are the innocent victims of war and bear the consequences in ways that are not often reported. Edita and her children may have escaped Sarajevo, but in many ways she took the war with her. Hers is the story of fleeing to keep your children safe and then spending years in limbo, of the chronic anxiety and fear war wreaks even if you're geographically separated from it, when you are stateless, homeless and isolated and living in perpetual, crippling fear of what is happening to your loved ones.
Edita has put not just the events on the page but the emotion. She has captured the pointlessness of war, and the way it is often demarcated by religion or ethnicity, which leaves many people mystified.
She and her children were taken to the Lake District initially, where they stayed while fighting to find a means for her husband to escape from Sarajevo and join them. This they did with incredibly diminished means. It was incredibly heartening to read of the support they found in the community in Penrith, but astonishing and dismaying to read about the bureaucracy they encountered. It is ludicrous that the right processes are not in place to help families separated through war, barely surviving on the absolute minimum, ludicrous that they were made to jump through the most convoluted hoops and understand formal, obstructive language and nonsensical rules, while watching news of their home being shelled.
I'm not writing as coherently about this as I want to. I read it compulsively over the past few days and scribbled down some notes as I went. As the dust settled, I predict it will be one of those books that stays with the reader.
War happens to ordinary people; my own childhood growing up across the water from northern Ireland with some of my own family there taught me that. I'm thankful for a book like this, which makes it clear that war can happen to anybody. It is also of course terribly apposite, given the Ukraine.
Edita has put her experience on the page with humility and frankness, and it is a gripping, informative and moving account. I urge you to read it.
October 3, 2022
Between Before and AfterReally enjoyed this poignant read about the Balkans war of the early 1990s, though it was harrowing at times. It's one of those books where the storyline, the scenes were so masterfully crafted, I feel like they've been directly transported into my memory as if I was experiencing this journey.
Great attention to detail, such emotional depth. It's given me a sense of and more empathy about the refugee's journey. And this was a corner of the world where I spent a bit of time working during the war, too (in Croatia), so I have some inkling of what was happening, but not this story, not this perspective.
The last chapter, where the author weaved in her thoughts and snippets of an elongated Facebook Messenger conversation with a friend from the ole country of Bosnia, was so artfully structured. She managed to concertina her life from arriving in Melbourne until the current day using this format. I loved the way she shared with the reader that there were some things/views she had to hold back from her friend, but she shared with us as the reader.
You'll never look at a flak jacket the same way again. It will become a powerful signifier of this war, legitimacy and escape.
Great attention to detail, such emotional depth. It's given me a sense of and more empathy about the refugee's journey. And this was a corner of the world where I spent a bit of time working during the war, too (in Croatia), so I have some inkling of what was happening, but not this story, not this perspective.
The last chapter, where the author weaved in her thoughts and snippets of an elongated Facebook Messenger conversation with a friend from the ole country of Bosnia, was so artfully structured. She managed to concertina her life from arriving in Melbourne until the current day using this format. I loved the way she shared with the reader that there were some things/views she had to hold back from her friend, but she shared with us as the reader.
You'll never look at a flak jacket the same way again. It will become a powerful signifier of this war, legitimacy and escape.
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April 1, 2023still definitely not the kind of person who wants to rate a non-fiction book, especially one as personal and transcendental as this.
the pure devastation that was endured by this family was heartbreaking, but warm in the support, love and tenacity that came from all those who helped them and edita herself. it was very well written - vivid, emotionally charged. it felt tender in that there were these painful moments and feelings, though cared for by an abundance of compassion.
a stunning story.
the pure devastation that was endured by this family was heartbreaking, but warm in the support, love and tenacity that came from all those who helped them and edita herself. it was very well written - vivid, emotionally charged. it felt tender in that there were these painful moments and feelings, though cared for by an abundance of compassion.
a stunning story.
January 11, 2024
This is an amazing true story that comes at an appropriate time as unfortunately many people are experiencing similar situations. Edita and her young children were able to escape from 1992 Sarajevo, but had to leave her husband (and other family) behind. At a time when I'm wondering what life is like for the people of Ukraine and Gaza, the descriptions of Edita's husband's experience in Sarajevo during the siege give me an inkling of the horrors they're experiencing.
Full credit to Edita for sharing her story and to the many generous humans who assist families like hers.
Full credit to Edita for sharing her story and to the many generous humans who assist families like hers.
June 18, 2023
A well written book with a powerful and emotional story. It’s about love, loss, courage, hope, despair, and connection. Worth every second of reading it. I found it very difficult to put it down and found myself reading it after midnight on weeknights. Thank you for sharing your story, Edita!
January 4, 2024
This is not a book to 'enjoy' but it is an important, imminently readable book about the atrocities of war. It is a harrowing story illuminated by one family's strength, courage and resilience. How they conquered adversity with the help of a few friends and total strangers gives hope for humanity.
March 11, 2025
A beautiful memoir of a family’s struggle to reunite after fleeing war-torn Sarajevo. Really brought what I have always viewed as distant faraway troubles right into focus - the impact, the destruction, the suffering and the longing. Still so relevant to our current times.
March 12, 2023
What a wonderful, and inspiring story. I couldn’t put it down, and often read very late into the night. Thank you for telling your story. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
November 26, 2023
Highly recommend this memoir. An incredible story of resilience and love.
March 27, 2024
Capably written and sure to provoke sentiment. Mujkić keeps the pitch of her memoir very personal, with little sense of the whys and wherefores behind the wider war in her former country.
September 27, 2025
Loved it. A brilliant read that describes how war can slowly take over, and the bureaucracy needed to bring a loved one home. Heartbreak, longing, and resilience are vivid throughout.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 20, 2024
A truly captivating memoir of strength, courage and perseverance. Not only does Edita Mujkic do a remarkable job of transporting us into a time and place of such hardship and struggle for her and her family, she also manages to give us hope-hope that you can overcome such dire circumstances if you just keep going, keep looking and if you never give up.
I loved many things about this book-from the tension in the harrowing scene in the crowded room with her children to the last page at the train station. I loved how strangers helped her along the way, how resourceful she was and how she explored cultural differences through seemingly mundane, everyday tasks. I loved her memories of her life in Yugoslavia, a country and culture destroyed. But I think what I loved the most was the honest and raw emotion that captures the love and resilience of a mother, a wife, a daughter intent on securing a safe future for her family. A great book.
I loved many things about this book-from the tension in the harrowing scene in the crowded room with her children to the last page at the train station. I loved how strangers helped her along the way, how resourceful she was and how she explored cultural differences through seemingly mundane, everyday tasks. I loved her memories of her life in Yugoslavia, a country and culture destroyed. But I think what I loved the most was the honest and raw emotion that captures the love and resilience of a mother, a wife, a daughter intent on securing a safe future for her family. A great book.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews