We have five sets of ten books to give away to book clubs. In exchange for the books, we would ask for individual reviews from book club members.
About the book
Growing up in Zagreb in the summer of 1991, 10-year-old Ana Jurić is a blithe tomboy: she runs the streets with her best friend; helps take care of her ailing baby sister Rahela, and idolizes her father. But as summer wanes, tensions start to run high. Refugees from eastern villages filter into the city, carrying with them rumours of concentration camps and government-sanctioned murder. When civil war breaks out, Ana and her friends struggle to understand. As Rahela’s health deteriorates, Ana and her family are forced to make a perilous journey through army-occupied territory. Ana feels swallowed and lost to the world, and to the brutality of the Bosnian Croat war.
Ten years later, having told no one her story, Ana returns to Croatia, a young woman striving to belong to either country, forced to confront the trauma of her past and rediscover the place that was once her home.
Girl At War is a haunting, compelling debut from a brilliant young writer. Sara has lived in the States and Croatia, and her novel recounts some of the haunting stories of her family and friends who lived through the height of the conflict, and reflects her own attempts to come to terms with her relationship to Croatia and its history. It is an extraordinary achievement. These are characters you will never forget.
Unforgettable… a remarkable debut by a writer working with deep reserves of talent, heart and mind – Gary Shteyngart
