Mengiste M.: The Shadow King

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020

book of the year in New york times, guardian, ellie, time, spectator

'devastating' Marlon James, 'brilliant' Salman Rushdie, 'magnificent' Aminatta Forna, 'wonderful' Laila Lalami, 'good' time 'wonderful' New York Times

Ethiopia, 1935.

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

Hirut and other women strive to do more than just tend to 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. She helps disguise the meek peasant as the emperor and soon becomes his guardian, inspiring other women to take up arms. But how could she have predicted her own personal war, which is still ahead, being a prisoner of one of Italy's most brutal officers?

The Shadow King is a beautifully crafted and unfathomable exploration of female power and what it means to be a woman in war.