Wirral Libraries Bookbuzz discussion

This is available on Libby. It was shortlisted for the Booker prize if such things interest you. I gave it 4 stars and this is my review:

This is a book that will stay with me. It is set in Ethiopia and it added poignancy that as I was reading it and as I write this, storm clouds of conflict are gathering there once more. The main action takes place during the Italian invasion and occupation under Mussolini in the late 30s but there are echoes back to previous war in the late 19th century (a previous Italian invasion) and forward to armed uprising in the 70s. War and conflict are central to the book so it is really quite brutal and not an easy read though it isn't overly graphic or gratuitous in descriptions of violence. As with much historical fiction I was left much more aware of a place and time of which I knew very little previously but also wondering what was fact and what ficttion. I would have appreciated a little more detail on that in the Author's note at the end.

It sounds quite a difficult read. I am steering away from realism at the moment but perhaps one to remember for the future. Was it recommended to you or are you following the Booker Longlist?

Hi Anne-Marie, I'm not planning on reading the whole longlist but it was the list brought me to the book. I have been trying to include more African authors in my reading but hadn't read any non-Nigerian African authors and I do like historical fiction as a genre so of the books that made the longlist this was one that appealed.