Maaza Mengiste geht es nicht darum den Abessinien-Krieg (1935), den letzten kolonialen Eroberungskrieg Italiens, historisch zu dokumentieren, sondern dessen Realität in diesem afrikanischen Land – heute Äthiopien – semi-fiktional entlang zweier Legenden zu erzählen. Sie ermöglicht psyologisch scharfsinnig einen überraschend ungeschminkten Einblick in die abessinische Gesellschaft, in den Gemütszustand Haile Selassies, des damaligen Kaisers, und in die Mechanismen des Faschismus. Die Universalität der Unterdrückung und des Aufbegehrens wird gekonnt vor unseren Augen manifest. Der mit zahlreichen komplexen Beziehungs- und Gefühlssträngen komponierte spannende Roman ist von grosser Bedeutung. Ich kann den Roman sehr empfehlen. ap
Klappentext: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. She helps disguise a gentle peasant as the emperor and soon becomes his guard, inspiring other women to take up arms. But how could she have predicted her own personal war, still to come, as a prisoner of one of Italy's most vicious officers?
The Shadow King is a gorgeously crafted and unputdownable exploration of female power, and what it means to be a woman at war.
Über die Autorin / über den Autor:Maaza Mengiste was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A Fulbright Scholar and professor in the MFA in Creative Writing & Literary Translation programme at Queens College, she is the author of The Shadow King, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize and the HWA Gold Crown, and Beneath the Lion's Gaze, named one of the Guardian's Ten Best Contemporary African Books. Her work can be found in the New Yorker, Granta and the New York Times, among other publications. She lives in New York City.
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