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Black Butterflies

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Black Butterflies

By: Priscilla Morris
Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
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About this listen

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS’ CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2023

‘A moving, compelling, deeply human novel about love, hope and resilience in a city under siege. Everyone should read it’ Emma Stonex, bestselling author of The Lamplighters

Sarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erect barricades, splitting the diverse city into ethnic enclaves; each morning, 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 than a handful of weeks, she stays behind while the city falls under siege. As the assault deepens and everything they love is laid to waste, black ashes floating over the rooftops, Zora and her friends are forced to rebuild themselves, over and over. Theirs is a breathtaking story of disintegration, resilience and hope.

©2023 Priscilla Morris (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Scary War

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All stars
Most relevant
This great performance and writing captured perfectly the desent of everyday life into one of hopelessness through war.

Loved this

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Excellent narration and an enjoyable if traumatic listen. I remember this war and this shows the importance of historical fiction

Bridges

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The fictionalised account of a siege that took place over thirty years ago is sadly more relevant today than at any time in the intervening years.

Telling the story of the seige of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo in the 90's. I think it is a book you should read if you want to know what it is like for ordinary people caught up in a conflict zone. How easy it is to go from living a normal life one minute to an extraordinary the next. The amazing community spirit that can spring up in amongst the tragedy of war.

Given the subject matter, this is a very hard-hitting book. However, it was not as brutal as I was expecting. It is just about sanitised enough for the average reader to get something from.

A very moving story of siege.

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What a descriptive inviting and compelling narrative. The reader feels as though they are living in the Sarajevo siege through the eyes of an ordinary but extraordinary woman. Priscilla brings the characters alive and what is happening around them, the brutality of war but the human spirit endures!

Fabulous

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Engages the senses so you feel transported into Zora's experiences. Written mainly in present tense, often the scenes begin at a certain moment then later reveals what led up to that moment. The story-within-the-story of the walled up woman as narrated by Meera Saad to Zora had a sinister intimacy. Love how all the characters came to life. Very well researched in recreating the earlier horrors of the Siege of Sarajevo.

gripping, superb storytelling

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