The Suitcase: Refugee Voices from Bosnia and Croatia

by Julie Mertus (Editor), Cornel West (Foreword), Jasmina Tešanović (Editor)

The whirlwind of Europe's longest war in half a century has produced this powerful collection of personal narratives―essays, letters, and poems―from refugees fleeing Bosnia and Croatia. Taking us behind the barrage of media coverage, these stories tell of perseverance, brutality, forced departure, exile, and courage. With startling immediacy and in moving detail, speakers tell of stuffing a few belongings―a handful of photographs, a rock from the garden, a change of clothes―into a suitcase and fleeing their homeland.

Contributors from all ethnic groups and every region of Bosnia and Croatia describe their sense of lost community, memories of those left behind, recollections of town squares that no longer exist, and homes now occupied by neighbors. The editors of The Suitcase , themselves representing the diverse peoples of the region, traveled to camps and temporary homes across the globe to collect these stories. An antidote to apathy, this work moves beyond and outside the vicissitudes of daily politics to portray the human tragedy at the center of present-day Bosnia and Croatia. Probing the intimate losses of countless individuals, it delivers a powerful indictment of injustice, militarism, prejudice, and warfare.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 21, 1996

Reviews

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was late in the afternoon. I was packing the most needed things. She followed me. She went after me from one room to another. She shuffled around my legs. My cat Mira, as if she knew I was leaving. Yes, she knew it very well.
When I took my bags she went after me. I told her, "Stay there, Mira, watch our house. Luka and I are leaving. Even though we don't know where we are going."
Mira stopped. She stopped and followed me with her eyes. I walked and looked back nobody knows how many times, and she was still there, on the same spot, watching us. I started to cry. I cried while walking. We were far away. I couldn't see her anymore, but I could see her and her eyes as if she were before me.
-Dusanka Maric, Bosnia-Herzegovina

[Matthew W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disliked organization of the book. The authors needed to provide better background information. They did not disclose whether someone was a Croat, Muslim, or Serb, so reader is wondering what is going on. Also, background info should come BEFORE the story told. Really enjoyed the inclusion of female perspectives. Other oral histories of of refugees are often male dominated.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book of collection of letters, poems, essays written by refugees of the Bosnian and Croatian war conflicts of the early 1990s. I read about 75% of the entire book. Many aspects are quite dark and depressing.

[Ericka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of women refugees from Bosnia and Croatia during the breakup of Yugoslavia. In depth insight from a first perspective. Very touching and eye-opening.

[Stephanie Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a powerful book giving voice to such an atrocity!