390pp., paperback, London, 2023
Debut novel.
Selam Asmelash is the daughter of a scorned, formerly land-owning family who must grow up in the wake of Ethiopia’s socialist revolution.
"Extraordinary ... the story of a sharp-witted young girl trying to hold herself together during political upheaval, and an achingly tender tale of community, family, grief and forgiveness." Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King
Mihret Sibhat grew up in a small town in western Ethiopia before moving to California when she was seventeen. A graduate of California State University, Northridge, and the University of Minnesota’s MFA program, she was a 2019 A Public Space Fellow and a 2019 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grantee.