Black Butterflies: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2023

Product Information

But when the unrest intensifies and all avenues to leave are gradually shut down, she is trapped, alone but for her neighbors and students, deriving comfort and support from one another. When even the haven of her studio is taken away from her, she’s reduced to the bare bones of existence, with just a few beloved neighbours to keep her spirits up. Zora joins with her friends to survive the days, offer comfort to each other, and find reasons to hope. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. With beautiful writing and incredible insight, this novel deals with the many facets of the ensuing siege and war.

I appreciate the themes of people helping people, resilience, determination, hope, human kindness, and compassion for refugees. The Bosnian war of 1992–1995 was something I knew little about, and this book helped me get some context. We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. So I found myself a little lost at times in understanding the geography and the politics of the region. Sorry, I don't want to sound like a book-snob, but this is far more commercial in writing style, tone and attitude than I expected (lots of those 'cold needles of panic pierced my stomach' type sentences - ugh!She shares Zora’s love and pride in her hometown and we too feel like it really is the most wonderful place in the world. This book explores both the atrocity of war, including the desperate toll on innocent people who are just trying to live. Given the subject matter, that is not surprising and the author paints a vivid picture of the struggles of daily life amidst a horrific war. The book tells us in a sincere and modest way the struggle of the female protagonist Zora surviving the inhuman conditions around her through her passion for art. It is hard to believe that this is the author’s debut novel and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. The author mentions in her note that there are no ethnic identities but national identities in Bosnia, but unless you read her note entirely, you won’t understand why. The author focusses on the experiences of those surviving in the part of Sarajevo that was under attack by the Serbs. The countryside was still littered with landmines, dotted with unoccupied houses and pockmarked with graves marked with simple white crosses here and there. Sarajevo is a multicultural city (where the city is full of the Muslim, Serb, Croat, and Yugoslav populations) but racial sentiments, and ethnic tensions have arisen, and conflict is brewing.It’s a great course that packs a lot in – we get to examine pieces of writing, practise writing, learn the mechanics, get feedback on our own work and support others. Gradually it becomes clear that what they envisage will be a temporary separation becomes something altogether more permanent as Zora is trapped in Sarajevo, a city surrounded. In addition, an estimated 12,000–50,000 women were raped, mainly carried out by Serb forces, with most of the victims being Bosniak women. Predominantly secular and home to a multi-ethnic population, April 1992 saw Bosnian Serb Nationalists place Sarajevo under siege, intending to remove Bosnian Muslims – an act of “ethnic cleansing”.

This was the case in “Demon Copperhead”, in the stories of Nada Alic’s collection, and in “Cursed Bread”, but didn’t really happen in “Black Butterflies”. Unfortunately, subsequent to the recognition of Bosnia as an independent and sovereign nation, the Bosnian War broke out and Sarajevo was under siege. Facebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. Predvidljiva je dosta: vrlo lako možeš da proceniš ko će preživeti a ko neće (mada me je ipak malo žacnulo kad sam došla do pogibije) i kraj je zbrzan, cap, cap, cap, tako da ostajemo bez razrešenja za sve ostale ljude iz zgrade (koja, naravno, funkcioniše kao mala Jugoslavija, samo svi ostaju složni do kraja romana), što je bzvz jer se poprilično potrudila da izgradi sve junake i junakinje. Perhaps this is meant to convey a dream-like quality, showing a disbelief, an incredulity at what is happening as the city falls?It's been a long time since then and I thought I'd had my fill until this novel by Priscilla Morris came along with its enticing cover, for the 30th anniversary of the siege. Inspired by family history, the siege of Sarajevo is seen through the eyes of artist and teacher Zora. But as the city falls under siege, Zora and the people around her – most of whom she barely knows – find themselves cut off from their comforts, rights and the outside world.