Oct 24

Oct 24 The Shadow King

Author: Maaza Mengiste
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

Click above to buy this book from my Bookshop.org shop, which supports independent bookstores (not Amazon). You can also find it via your favorite indie bookstore here.

Note: Trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

Set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King takes us back to the first real conflict of World War II, casting light on the women soldiers who were left out of the historical record. At its heart is orphaned maid Hirut, who finds herself tumbling into a new world of thefts and violations, of betrayals and overwhelming rage. What follows is a heartrending and unputdownable exploration of what it means to be a woman at war.

TL;DR Review

The Shadow King is a difficult read that has gorgeous sentences. It refuses to look away from the violent truths of a period of history that’s little known by the rest of the world.

For you if: You are ready to read about the realities of Italy invading Africa in the 1930s, and all that involves.

Full Review

“My own rupture, he would add if he could be understood, has been a slow progressive fall to the bottom. It has been an endless descent that began with these words: Take a picture, soldato.”

The Shadow King has received a lot of great reviews from the literary community, and it’s currently shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize.

I can see why. The writing, especially on the sentence level, is breathtaking. There were sentences that made me set the book down just so I could revel in them for a few moments. And the subject matter is heavy with weight and importance, telling a truth about the world in an unflinching way. It was a bit too heavy for me — at the moment, at least — so I think I appreciated it more than I enjoyed it. But that’s a me thing, not a book thing, so do with it what you will.

The book is about the invasion by Italy and Mussolini into Ethiopia in the 1930s. We spend time with a small troupe of Ethiopian soldiers, with focus on a maid named Hirut, and the man and woman she’s in service to. We also get some time in the Italian camp, with both the ruthless leader and a more sensitive but somewhat easily influenced photographer. The photographer’s also Jewish, and the antisemitic violence that threatens his parents back home is reaching across the world toward him as well.

I will tell you up front that there is quite a bit of severe sexual violence in this book. That’s not super surprising given the book’s setting and subject matter. It is definitely used in a way that feels important to the story and plot, and not just as a device for setting, so that helps a bit, but it’s still a LOT to stomach.

I thought the way this story harkened back to the Iliad was well done and fascinating. Some references are more overt and some more subtle, but it bends and twists around that mythology in a way that I thought was thought-provoking and resonant.

I also liked the ending; the plot felt circular and purposeful without being simplistic or overdone.

So I guess the verdict is this: If you are ready for a really tough but important read, and if you do well with books that feel more literary and less plot-driven, I say pick it up.