For a long time, if we were looking for Ethiopian literature, it was like looking for the elusive unicorn – it was hard to find, especially if we were looking for something in English or in English translation. The only book with an Ethiopian link out there was ‘Cutting for Stone‘ by the American novelist Abraham Verghese. Then Dinaw Mengestu burst on the scene with a couple of novels on Ethiopia. And then Maaza Mengiste published her first novel ‘Beneath the Lion’s Gaze‘.
Maaza Mengiste’s first novel was well received and got acclaim in newspaper reviews, but I don’t remember bloggers and book reviewers in social media reading it or reviewing it. It mostly slipped below the radar, I think. Then nearly ten years later, Maaza Mengiste published her second novel ‘The Shadow King‘ and this time, the timing was right. The book caught on like wild fire, there was a buzz among reviewers everywhere, the book got into award shortlists, including the shortlist for the Booker Prize, and suddenly, a long time after she started out, Maaza Mengiste became an international literary star. Very well deserved, I think. It is so nice to see her put Ethiopian literature on the world map.
Ethiopia has gone through challenging times for the past 80 years. It started with the Italian invasion and after a brief lull of peace after the Second World War, a military dictatorship came to power with Russian support, with recurring coup d’etats every few years. Even the end of the Cold War era didn’t improve things, with the new democratically elected head of state of that time behaving like an emperor, a civil war continuing in Eritrea in the north, and frequent fights with Somalia in the south. These days things are getting worse, with the federal government going to war against one of the state governments – and I am not using ‘war’ as a metaphor here, because it is actual war with two armies fighting against each other. I hope the current Ethiopian leaders come to their senses, and step back and resolve their differences by peaceful means.
Having spent most of my early childhood in Ethiopia, I have a soft corner for this beautiful country and its wonderful people. Till I was around ten years old, nearly all my friends were Ethiopian. I used to consider myself a honorary Ethiopian when I was a kid (More about all this later in a separate post.) So it gives me a lot of pain to see one of my favourite countries hurtling from one crisis to another.
Maaza Mengiste focuses on two different parts of 20th century Ethiopian history in her two novels. Her first novel is set during the time the military coup overthrows the emperor. Her second novel is about the time of the Italian invasion. They are two different fascinating times of modern Ethiopian history, and I am looking forward to reading the two books soon.
Have you read either of Maaza Mengiste’s novels? What do you think about them?
Wonderful post Vishy and I look forward to (more on this later) post.
I have Beneath the Lion’s Gaze on my shelf and have wanted to read it for some time, but then The Shadow King came along and was shortlisted for the Booker, so I got that one and listened to her interviewed online for the Edinburgh Book Festival and finally read it first, which is ok since chronologically it is about events that happen before her debut novel.
Listening to her talk so passionately about the project of The Shadow King was amazing, especially the fact that it was quite late in the writing of it that she discovered her own great-grandmother had been a female warrior. And also her talking of being in Italy and looking for old photos from that era and the reaction of people, including one man during an interview asked for her forgiveness for what his father had been involved in, in 1935.
I also love that she was inspired by the words of Empress Menen of Ethiopia disclosing the aggression to the World Women’s League, appealing to all world nations. She said:
Thanks for the reminder Vishy, I must read the first novel soon.
Glad you liked the post, Claire 😊 So nice to know that you have read The Shadow King and liked it. Will read your review soon. It is so fascinating that Maaza Mengiste’s great-grandmother was a warrior during the Italian occupation! I want to read that interview of hers! I loved that quote of Empress Menem that you have shared! So insightful and thought-provoking. Thanks so much for sharing! Hope you enjoy reading Beneath the Lion’s Gaze too. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts. Happy reading!
A lovely post and like many others I have her books on my TBR. I remember being so struck by the descriptions of the beauty of Ethiopia in ‘Cutting for Stone’ I was about ready to get on a plane to go and see it.
Hope you enjoy reading Maaza Mengiste’s books. So nice to know that you liked Cutting for Stone. I want to read that soon.
I have Beneath the Lion’s Gaze on the TBR too and *blush* it’s been there since 2013 when I read the review at Mary Okeke.
(https://www.maryokekereviews.com/2013/01/beneath-lions-gaze-2010-maaza-mengiste.html). The Shadow King is on my radar, but I think I should read the first book first.
However I have more recently (2018) read most of of Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, but I didn’t review it because I had to take it back to the library unfinished, and never got round to re-borrowing it. It’s been so long now I’d need to re-read it from the beginning. And, well, I’d always rather read a book by an Ethiopian author living in Ethiopia than an expat.
It’s interesting, though, to see why and how some African novels surface into the zeitgeist, while others don’t. I used to find out about a lot of them from Kinna Reads, but there haven’t been any posts there for a long time, so I unsubscribed. Mary Okeke hasn’t posted since 2019 either. (I do worry about bloggers who stop posting, I hope all is well with them and that they’re just busy doing other things, but there’s no way to know).
These days I get most of my info about new books in Africa from the Johannesburg Review of Books which doesn’t just cover books from South Africa.
So nice to know that you have Beneath the Lion’s Gaze in your TBR, Lisa 😊 Thanks for sharing Mary Okeke’s review. Will look forward to reading it soon. Hope you get to finish reading Cutting for Stone. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts. I remember Kinna’s blog. She used to champion African literature. Sad to know that she doesn’t blog anymore. I see some of the old bloggers active in other platforms like Twitter and Instagram, while some of them have disappeared. It is sad. But I am seeing new bloggers coming in all the time and the blogging medium appears to be thriving as it is probably the only platform which supports long form writing.
Thanks for telling me about the Johannesburg Review of Books. It looks fascinating!
I have a question for you, Lisa. Because you are into literary magazines. Which is your favourite out of these three – London Review of Books, New York Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement? I want to subscribe to one of them. I am leaning right now towards the London Review of Books. But I thought I’ll ask for your expert opinion. Please do share your thoughts. Thank you 🙂
Alas, Vishy, I don’t have an expert opinion, and no, with the exception of the JRB because it’s unique, I’m not into literary magazines. I subscribe to one or another every now and again and then I never get round to reading them because I’ve got other things to read. Of the three you mention, I’ve only ever subscribed to the LRB and I found it useless because it just reviewed the same old books that are reviewed everywhere else. So I didn’t renew. Really, I rely on my friends in the LitBlog world, and the only reason I use the JRB is because I haven’t found a replacement for Kinna or Mary Okeke.
I have a library copy of The Shadow King but unfortunately won’t have time to read it before it has to be returned. I’ve never read anything by an Ethopian author so this is very disappointing
Hope you can borrow The Shadow King from the library again and get go read it. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts whenever you get to it. Happy reading!
I’m sure I can get it – there wasn’t a long waiting list for it fortunately
Fascinating post Vishy. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything from Ethiopia which is a failing on my part. I wil look out for these. And as for book review publications, I have subscribed to the LRB for some time now!
Glad you liked the post, Kaggsy 😊 Hope you get read Maaza Mengiste’s books and like them. So nice to know that you have subscribed to LRB! How is it? I am so tempted to subscribe to it now!
I find something of interesting in most issues. Though I believe the editorship has changed hands recently so I will see how that goes!
Glad to know that there is something interesting in most issues! Will give it a try soon. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Kaggsy 😊
I had no idea about your tie to Ethiopia. How very interesting.
I got Cutting for Stone but not Mengiste’s novels. They did catch my attention though. I will put them on a wish list. I think I own a French novel set in Ethiopia. I will have to search for it.
It must have been so exciting living there. What a wonderful experience.
Hope you get to read Cutting for Stone and Mengiste’s novels and like them, Caroline. If you remember the French novel’s name, please do let me know. Would love to read it. Yes, living in Ethiopia was a fascinating experience. I was hoping to visit again someday, but these days the situation there seems to be very difficult.
Very difficult. I just listened to a Swiss podcast and it sounded dire.
Yes, the situation looks very bad, Caroline. It is sad.
Vishy, this is a sweet, sweet post. And I am waiting with bated breath to read your story about your childhood in Ethiopia.