Black Butterflies: A novel

by Priscilla Morris Narrated by Rachel Atkins, Priscilla Morris

Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE YEAR ¿ SHORT-LISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION ¿ FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE 2025 ¿ A timeless story of strife and hope set during the conflict in the Balkans in the early '90s-a searing debut novel about a woman who faces the war on her doorstep with courage, fierceness, and an unshakable belief in the power of art.

“A reflective novel . . . that tells us life goes on, love stories develop, humanity remains in the most inhumane of times.” -Irish Independent

Sarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erect makeshift barricades, splitting the city into ethnic enclaves. Each morning, the people who live there-whether Muslim, Croat, or Serb-push the barriers aside.

When violence erupts and becomes, finally, unavoidable, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother to safety in England. She stays behind, reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a few weeks. As the city falls under siege, everything she loves about her home is laid to waste, black ashes floating over the rooftops. Yet Zora and her friends find ways to rebuild themselves, over and over. Told with breathtaking immediacy, this is a story of disintegration, resilience, and hope-a stirring debut from a commanding new voice.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Black Butterflies makes the case for art in times of war. . . . [It] wrests beauty and hope out of suffering. . . . Morris is a brilliant writer of place. Her Sarajevo is finely drawn, as vividly rendered as Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo. . . . It is a work of literature that transforms horror and violence into a life force.” —Bea Setton, New York Times Book Review

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

“A gripping, heartbreaking yet hopeful tale of human resilience, compassion, and the haunting devastations of war. A book that will stay with you for a long time.” —Cecile Pin, author of Wandering Souls

“Exquisitely crafted, it pulses with tension: we couldn’t stop turning the pages.” —Rachel Joyce, on behalf of the judges of the Women’s Prize for Fiction

“Lucidly and vividly written. . . . Feels totally authentic. . . . Zora’s paintings, like the existence of this book, are testimony to the way that wars come and go but art goes on forever.” —The Sunday Times (U.K.)

“The scent of baklava, the reassuring rustle of forests, streets lulled with folk tales—these are the memories that haunt this tender first novel, a tribute to a martyred Sarajevo. . . . It is a vibrant fresco of the history of this ‘town where everyone loved each other,’ and depicts the unbreakable bonds of a community held together by horror. Love flourishes even amid the rubble.” —Josephine Carcopino, Le Monde

“Poignant. . . . Wise. . . . Compelling. . . . Black Butterflies is a historical portrait as well as a character one. . . . Morris is savvy in her story craft.” —Malavika Praseed, Chicago Review of Books

★ “Stunning. . . . Unforgettable. . . . This astonishing novel will linger with readers long after the last page. Morris’s exceptional storytelling marks her as a writer to watch.” —Booklist (starred)

★ “A compelling debut. . . . Contains episodes of page-turning uncertainty and heartbreaking pathos.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)

★ “The stirring story of a community’s heroic efforts to maintain its humanity. . . . The world she crafts is perfectly rendered, and it amounts to a poignant love letter to Sarajevo and to the human spirit. This one is tough to shake.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

“If you want a story of hope persisting through hardship, read Black Butterflies.” —Stylist

“Both devastating and beautiful, infused with a sense of hope. . . . Black Butterflies is a story of how art sustains and gives purpose in moments of desolation and terror.” — BookPage

“A powerful, gripping portrayal from within the siege of Sarajevo of how war first encroaches upon, then obliterates, the perimeters of daily life. In Black Butterflies, Priscilla Morris uses beautiful, tightly-calibrated prose and deep empathy to portray the disbelief, reckoning, resilience, and will to keep living of the besieged inhabitants of Sarajevo and the novel’s fierce, unforgettable protagonist, the painter Zora, who survives with art in the midst of unexpected love and unfathomable loss.” —Aube Rey Lescure, author of River East, River West

“Black Butterflies is incredible, a must-read. There are few novels that stay with you after the final page is read, but this is one. Brutal yet also uplifting, immersive and real, it shows what the human spirit is capable of.” —Karen Angelico, author of Everything We Are

“Beautifully drawn. . . . Thoughtful and atmospheric. . . . This is a reflective novel about dark times that tells us life goes on, love stories develop, humanity remains in the most inhumane of times.” —Irish Independent

“Astonishingly good. . . . Zora’s story broke my heart, and I hope it will open the hearts of all those who read it, at a time when history is destined to repeat itself.” —Liz Nugent, author of Our Little Cruelties

“Brilliantly evokes a world slipping, day by day, under the surface of the opaque waters of war. Dark yet starkly beautiful, Black Butterflies . . . is at once a testament to the victims and survivors of the Siege of Sarajevo, to the power of art, and to Morris’s skills as a storyteller.” —Aminatta Forna, author of The Hired Man

“An intensely evocative and deeply moving debut—I held my breath as I read.” —Ruth Gilligan, author of The Butchers’ Blessing

"The best contemporary novel I have read for a long while and also chillingly resonant with the scenes unfolding in Ukraine, Black Butterflies is a book for our time.” —Sarah Burton, author of The Strange Adventures of H

“Black Butterflies paints a portrait of a devastating moment in history, but also of one woman’s capacity for beauty and resilience. An intensely evocative and deeply moving debut—I held my breath as I read.” —Ruth Gilligan, author of The Butchers’ Blessing

“Beautifully written and hauntingly evocative, Black Butterflies distills into a single consciousness a nation’s violent trauma and an artist’s sense of hope. Rich and highly accomplished.” —Sam Byers, author of Idiopathy

“An elegy to the vibrant and inclusive society that was subjected to a murderous assault in 1992. It comes at an apt time because it testifies to the ease and speed with which things can fall apart.” —Kevin Sullivan, author of The Longest Winter

“Incredibly affecting . . . superbly researched and beautifully written. It could not be more topical.” —Paula McGrath, author of A History of Running Away

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-08-17
The human costs of the siege of Sarajevoin the 1990s are recounted in a compelling debut.

Zora, a 55-year-old painter and art instructor, lives a busy life in Sarajevo with her older husband, Franjo. When, during the early days of the partisan conflict, the family’s equanimity is upset by squatters trying to take possession of Zora’s mother’s apartment, Zora and Franjo decide that he will accompany her mother on an earlier-than-planned visit to their daughter and son-in-law (and beloved granddaughter) in England. Unable to believe or comprehend that the military action beginning to envelope the city will last for very long, Zora stays behind to watch the family’s properties and continue her work. Over the course of the following year, Zora struggles to survive as battling factions fight for control of a city that had previously been marked by the calm cohabitation of residents of various nationalities and religions. As residents of her apartment building band together in mutual support after the city loses telephone, electric, and water services, Zora resorts to desperate means to survive the quickly developing brutal circumstances. Faced with no way to escape the freezing weather, dwindling food supplies, and the constant danger of bombardment, Zora finds her lifelong artistic endeavors curtailed. Based on two episodes in her family’s history during the siege, Morris’ account of finding strength in human connection and artistic creation illustrates the cultural, social, and human damage caused by the internecine Balkan conflict. The chronicle of Zora’s ordeal, while sobering, contains episodes of page-turning uncertainty and heartbreaking pathos.

A classic cautionary tale of contemporary relevance.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160528144
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	08/20/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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