Publishers Weekly
★ 06/10/2024
Bosnian British author Morris debuts with the stirring story of a community’s heroic efforts to maintain its humanity during the siege of Sarajevo. In spring 1992, as sectarian tensions boil over, Zora, a 55-year-old artist of Serbian descent, chooses to stay behind while her husband and mother flee to London. Zora and her Catholic and Muslim neighbors underestimate the risk they face, downplaying the barricades set up by militiamen intent on carving the city into nationalist enclaves, until one night a Serbian shell slams into their building. Life in the city descends into previously unimaginable depths of horror as snipers take aim at civilians, sever power and telephone lines, and choke off exit points, stranding a defenseless population as winter looms. The embattled residents of Zora’s building band together, resisting degradation through their commitment to art and friendship. For her part, Zora opens her doors to neighbors, converts her apartment into a studio, and gives painting lessons. Morris’s prose vibrates with love for the singular city, dotted with Hapsburg spires, Islamic arches, and the onion domes of Serbian Orthodox churches; and for its residents, who, withered and starved, cling tenaciously to the ideal of a multiethnic metropolis. 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. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
Stunning. . . . An unforgettable portrait of an artist and her community under siege. . . . This astonishing novel will linger with readers long after the last page. Morris’s exceptional storytelling marks her as a writer to watch.” —Rebecca Hopman, Booklist (starred)
“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
“The stirring story of a community’s heroic efforts to maintain its humanity during the siege of Sarajevo. . . . Morris’s prose vibrates with love for the singular city, dotted with Hapsburg spires, Islamic arches, and the onion domes of Serbian Orthodox churches; and for its residents, [who] cling tenaciously to the ideal of a multiethnic metropolis. 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)
“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
“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.” —Phil Baker, The Sunday Times (U.K.)
“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 timely love letter to a war-torn Sarajevo . . . Thoughtful and atmospheric . . . Beautifully drawn . . . 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.” —Estelle Birdy, Irish Independent
“An astonishingly good debut . . . 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
“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
“If you want a story of hope persisting through hardship, read Black Butterflies.” —Katie Rosseinsky, Stylist
“An intensely evocative and deeply moving debut—I held my breath as I read.” —Ruth Gilligan, author of The Butchers’ Blessing
“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
