First published 2014
In Hargeisa, Somalia, three women watch their world crumble as political upheaval tears through their city in 1987. Their separate lives begin to weave together as government forces clash with rebels in the streets. One woman struggles to protect her family while soldiers patrol her neighborhood. Another finds herself caught between loyalty and survival as the regime tightens its grip. The third faces impossible choices as violence spreads through the province. Each woman must navigate the chaos that surrounds them, making decisions that will determine not only their own fate but the lives of those they love. As Somalia fractures around them, these three discover that their individual struggles are part of a larger story of a nation coming apart. Their intersecting paths reveal how ordinary people endure when everything familiar disappears.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, african-literature, contemporary
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: intersecting-lives, ordinary-people
Setting: Hargeisa, Somalia
Period: 1987
385 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Press
Content warnings: violence