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The Shadow King

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The Shadow King

By: Maaza Mengiste
Narrated by: Robin Miles
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About this listen

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020.

A Times Audiobook of the Week.

Ethiopia, 1935.

With the threat of Mussolini's army looming, recently orphaned Hirut struggles to adapt to her new life as a maid. Her new employer, Kidane, an officer in Emperor Haile Selassie's army, rushes to mobilise his strongest men before the Italians invade.

Hirut and the other women long to do more than care for the wounded and bury the dead. When Emperor Haile Selassie goes into exile and Ethiopia quickly loses hope, it is Hirut who offers a plan to maintain morale. But how could she have predicted her own personal war, still to come, as a prisoner of one of Italy's most vicious officers?

©2020 Maaza Mengiste (P)2020 Canongate Books Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Africa Italy War

Critic reviews

"Beautiful and devastating." (Marlon James)

"Unforgettably conveyed by the narrator Robin Miles, whose upbringing in the ethnic melting pot of New Jersey has enhanced her gift for entering into character...the listener never feels lost, only more deeply involved. It is easily the best title on the Booker 2020 longlist." (Christina Hardyment, The Times)
All stars
Most relevant
An amazing story of the women soldiers who fought against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Haunting and lyrical. Every character is well developed.

Ethiopia

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the author's final words. women's importance in all wars is never truly recognized nor appreciated.

So true,

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Could not get connected with the characters, found it hard to care what happened to them.

Difficult to follow

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A difficult listen on many levels but we should never forget our shameful histories.
I cried more than once
Thank you Maaza for bearing a belated witness in such a brutally honest but eloquent way. Very few books have left such an impression on me. Brilliant! Thank you

Brilliant telling of a disturbing history

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I chose this because it looked like the most interesting story on the Booker longlist - and I wasn't disappointed. Like Kate Grenville, the author takes inspiration from some family history to tell the incredible story of female soldiers in Ethiopia. There's some cracking lines about dealing with colonialisation, a few of my favourites were: 'Make living your first act of defiance' and 'Only soil will remember who we are. Nothing but earth is strong enough to withstand the burden of memory'. Reading is about temporarily escaping the cosy rut of your own existence and seeing the world through someone else's eyes. I knew nothing about Ethiopia in the 1930s but I do now. This is also a very topical book in terms of unheard stories and perspectives.

A gun that has tasted blood wants more...

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