Girl at War by Sara Nović

Girl at War

Sara Nović

Ana was a young girl when war broke out in the former Yugoslavia. Now a student in America, she’s trying to come to terms with her past. Although there’s a feeling of detachment throughout this quick read, I enjoyed it very much. The author shifts between past and present very well and balances tragedy with hope.

Extract
The girls in the picture were strangers, but they could have just as easily been me. Caught in that void between childhood and puberty, skin still smooth but limbs gawky from growth spurts. Each held a Kalashnikov across her chest. The taller girl had her other arm over the shorter one’s shoulder; they might have been sisters. Both gave half smiles to the camera, as if they remembered from another time that one was supposed to smile in photographs.
Parallels
  • Half a yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
  • Lodgers by Nenad Velickovic
Borrow this book
Violence