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    The Shadow King
    The Shadow King
    The Shadow King
    Audiobook16 hours

    The Shadow King

    Written by Maaza Mengiste

    Narrated by Robin Miles

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    "A brilliant novel, lyrically lifting history towards myth. It's also compulsively readable. I devoured it in two days." ? Salman Rushdie In 1935, orphaned servant Hirut struggles to adapt to her new household as Ethiopia faces Mussolini's looming invasion. As the battles begin in earnest, Hirut and other women must care for the wounded. But when Emperor Haile Selassie goes into exile and Ethiopia is about to lose hope, Hirut helps to disguise a gentle peasant as the emperor to keep the fight alive. She becomes his guard, inspiring women to join the war against fascism. In this extraordinary, beautifully told epic, Hirut overcomes rape, violence, and imprisonment, finding the strength to fight for her country's freedom and her own. Maaza Mengiste breathes life into complicated characters on both sides of the battle line, shaping a searing story of ordinary women and the advanced army they courageously opposed. Set against the first real conflict of World War II, The Shadow King is a heartrending, indelible exploration of what it means to be a woman at war.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateOct 31, 2019
    ISBN9781980054627
    The Shadow King

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    Reviews for The Shadow King

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      Interesting story, but the writing was overshadowed by the overwhelming descriptions of violence.
    • 4/5
      A beautifully written story of Ethiopia's fight against Mussolini's invasion. It is brutal and heartbreaking, but I don't think the truth of war can be told in any other way. CONTENT WARNINGS rape, child rape, child abuse, domestic abuse, war violence
    • 5/5
      This book wove together so many interests of mine that I found it mesmerizing to read. It takes place in Ethiopia from the 1930s on. I count among friends many people from Ethiopia so anytime I can learn more about their country I am interested. In the 1930s Italy, under Mussolini, attempted to conquer Ethiopia. So the subjects of fascism and colonial ambition form a large part of the story. One of the Italian soldiers who comes to Ethiopia brings a camera with him and he is often tasked with taking photographs of the captured Ethiopians. Although I'm not a great photographer I am always interested in what a good photographer can capture. That soldier happened to be Jewish so there is the whole question of the treatment of Jews by the Nazis that raises its ugly head. The most intriguing facet of the story and the whole reason Mengiste wrote the book is the integral part the Ethiopian women took in the resistance. There are four women who play major roles in this book. Hirut was still a young girl when the Italians invaded. She was a servant in the household of Aster and Kidane, having been taken in by Kidane when her parents died. Also in the household is a woman known only as "the cook" who, rather shockingly, was a slave. Aster, Kidane's wife, did not want to be married. She and the cook tried to run away together just before the wedding ceremony but were caught and brought back. Aster bore a son to Kidane but he died in childhood which tragedy has deeply scarred both parents. The other main woman has many names: Fifi, Ferres, etc and she has many personas to go with those names. She has been a prostitute and she comes to the Italian camp to be the mistress of the commander. But she is also a spy who passes on much valuable information to the resistance fighters. Each of these women play an important role in the Ethiopian army. It is Hirut who comes up with the observation that a musician who has joined the resistance looks just like Haile Selassie. Minim becomes the Shadow King and rallies the Ethiopians when the real Selassie has fled the country. Inspired by the faux Selassie the Ethiopians fight on against the Italians who eventually leave Ethiopia to return to the war in Europe.The book is written with many interruptions to the narrative. There are descriptions of photographs, short biographies of tangential characters, interludes about what Selassie is doing and thinking, and a sort of Greek chorus to give overviews. With a less skilled writer this might make the book choppy but each time one of these sequences occurred I read them avidly.
    • 4/5
      The violence tends to overwhelm the beauty of the book. The language and telling is so beautifully crafted, the host of characters complex and dynamic as they change over time. The themes of women in war which are often overlooked or even worse, erased really resonate. This is a dark, difficult book to read, but should be read.
    • 3/5
      “War has no woman's face”, noted Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. Maaza Mengistu presents her own version of this, based on the history of her homeland Ethiopia, but in a very different way. While Alexievich fairly dryly registered the testimonies of dozens of women and only intervened in the composition and style, Mengiste offers an almost completely fictionalized story, in a truly epic style. As others have already written, you kind of find yourself in a Verdian opera, so bombastic, 19th centurish Mengiste describes the battle scenes between the Italian invasion army and the Ethiopian rebels. I regularly had to think of the Iliad, only the intervening gods are missing. This ancient Greek reference is not that farfetched: Mengiste regularly also brings in a chorus to support the story and comment on it from a broader context. There's something repulsive about that bombastic approach, but at the same time also attractive, because it's epic-lyrical.It is clear that Mengiste was not only focussing on her people's heroic resistance to the brutal Italian occupation after 1935 (for which, to my knowledge, Italy was never punished). This is also apparent from the fact that she is very selective about historical facts (and does not mention, for example, the Eritrean complicity in the Italian adventure, probably because that does not suit the current rulers in Ethiopia). According to the long closing sentence, her focus was mainly on the position of women in the Ethiopian resistance. Through the duo Hirut-Aster she illustrates how powerful women also took up arms and ventured into battle. I have not been able to verify her claim that this is based on historical facts. With both Hirut and Aster she also underlines the dubious nature of the female position: despite their merits, both are kept under control by the resistance leader Kidane, including the male prerogative to also subdue his female fighters in a sexual way. This Kidane therefore takes on a very ambiguous character. Personally, I had some trouble with the character drawing of both women: Mengiste tries to give them some layering but does not quite succeed. Hirut in particular remains a bit stuck in a quagmire of conflicting feelings.Strangely enough, the Italian protagonists, the vicious Colonel Fucelli and the terrified soldier-photographer Navarra, seem to come out much better. Through Navarra, Mengiste also makes a link with the holocaust, and here also she misuses historical facts (in 1935 Jews weren’t yet sent to extermination camps, and certainly in Italy there wasn’t a full-blown antisemitic policy yet). It is also significant that the whole story about the Shadow King is really just a minor side-intrigue, but by giving it the title of this book Mengiste disproves her gender focus.In short, there are definitely some snags to this novel. But if you like a compelling story, and if you are sensitive to gender aspects, and not afraid of bombastic prose, you will certainly enjoy this novel.
    • 4/5
      The prose is lyrical and full of strong images. I appreciated it telling me a story I didn't know. It brought the landscape to life in many ways. Her use of multiple voices was effective. However, the plot often felt stalled to me -- the stress on a woman as a soldier, but then battle scenes that were confusing and did not involve much battle.
    • 2/5
      I wanted to like this book based on the Italian invasion of Ethiopia during World War II, but I just could not get into the story. I finally gave up trying.
    • 5/5
      The Shadow King presents a lesser known chapter in the story of World War II: the Italian invasion of Ethiopia--more specifically, the role women played in the conflict. Mengiste's story is fully imagined here. Readers can easily identify with Hirut and her intense desire to keep ahold of her gun, a gift from her father. Aster's wishes and desires were less easy to understand. I never quite grasped what she wanted and didn't want, particularly in her relationship with Hirut. All together, this story moves with tremendous writing and a compelling storyline.
    • 4/5
      This historical novel about the Second Italo-Ethiopian War opens in the main bus station in Addis Ababa in 1974, just prior to the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie I, the revered head of Ethiopia since 1930. Hirut, the central character of this historical novel, carries a box containing the personal effects of Ettore Navarra, a photographer in the invading Italian army, whose task is to chronicle the successful war effort against the Ethiopians, in the face of Italy's humiliating defeat in the First Italo-Ethiopian War in the late 19th century. Ettore, whose ancestry put him and his Jewish father at risk of persecution and deportation during the war, has returned nearly 40 years after its conclusion to photograph the Ethiopian people at a time of turmoil, and wishes to reconnect with Hirut, who was captured by General Carlo Fucelli, the driven and sadistic leader of the invading forces.Hirut is a beautiful young servant in the household of Kidane, a high ranking officer in the Ethiopian Army, and his wife Aster, a haughty and cruel woman who is jealous of Hirut's beauty and Kidane's attraction towards her. The narrative begins in 1935, as the Italian Army was set to invade Ethiopia from Italian Somaliland. Hirut is an orphan, and Kidane vowed to her mother before her death that he would look after her with kindness, although he could not protect her from the wrath of his headstrong wife. As Kidane and his men go off to war Aster and other women in the community desire to fight alongside the men, as they were taught to fire rifles and fight by their fathers, but they are instructed to stay behind and support them instead. The badly equipped and trained Ethiopian Army, although superior in numbers, was overwhelmed by the Italian forces in early 1936, and before the capital of Addis Ababa could be captured Emperor Haile Selassie fled to England, which sapped the spirit of his people. Hirut, who was now no longer a servant to Kidare and Aster but a valuable member of the women who assisted Kidare's troop, noticed that one of the men looked exactly like the exiled emperor, and suggested that he be dressed as a "shadow king", in order to boost the morale of their countrymen during the war effort. She served as his loyal companion, but during a fateful battle against Fucelli and his army she fought bravely, but was captured and taken to a hilltop jail built by the Italians, where she and other Ethiopian fighters were cruelly tortured and killed, and escape seemed to be an impossible wish. "The Shadow King" is filled with heroic and memorable but deeply flawed characters on both sides, and Hirut overcomes terrible cruelty from her masters and the Italians with a laudable toughness and bravery that inspire both those fighting alongside her, along with the Italian photographer Ettore, who sympathizes with her plight despite the danger it puts him in.I struggled reading "The Shadow King", but that was largely due to my own difficulty concentrating, and in retrospect this is a superb and very well written novel about a little known conflict that could be considered the first battle of World War II, which is deserving of its place on this year's Booker Prize longlist.
    • 5/5
      A Gem of a StoryThe Shadow King is a richly textured and carefully constructed compelling must-needed work of historical fiction. As Fascist Italy invades Ethiopia in 1935, the men prepare to defend their country, but the women of Ethiopia will not be denied to preserve their country. Mengiste wrote this storyline to honor the women of Ethiopia who fought along side the men and are too often ignored in the history of wartime.Pairing expressive language with well-drawn unforgettable characters the story grips the reader as we become involved in the intimate harrowing details of the characters against the broader background that is the history and politics of the time.A richly rewarding reading experience this memorable work of historical fiction that provides a much needed Ethiopian point-of-view on one of the beginning points of WWII and equally needed what it means to be a woman at war.
    • 4/5
      [[Mengiste]]'s latest novel, [The Shadow King], is one that I found on the recently released long list for the Booker Prize. It caught my eye as a novel written by an African woman about the unsung women warriors that fought for Ethiopia against the Italian invasion in the 1930s. Mengiste is a masterful writer. She develops strong, complex, flawed characters on both sides, the Ethiopians and the Italians. And her Ethiopian female characters are complex as well - they are certainly not perfect role models or heroines. But they are real and strong and human. They have complex relationships with each other, that are realistic instead of glorifying. I appreciated this book and learning a little bit about this time period, but, as expected, reading about war is brutal and violent. A lot of this book was very uncomfortable to read and I wouldn't describe as pleasant. This book is very deserving of the critical claim it is receiving, but also is a challenging read. However, as the author states, it's so important to give these women a voice and acknowledge their contributions. Original publication date: 2020Author’s nationality: EthiopianOriginal language: EnglishLength: 428 pagesRating: 3.5 starsFormat/where I acquired the book: library hardbackWhy I read this: booker list, description grabbed my attention
    • 4/5
      I had mixed feelings about this book. Set in Ethiopia in 1930, it is a piece of historical fiction which tells the story of Italy's invasion. It tells the story of women who were oppressed and women who became warriors. It tells the story of the "shadow king", the Haile Selassie look-alike. The historical aspects were interesting, but in some sections the story dragged on. I give it 4 stars because the use of language was quite lovely. A nicely written book.
    • 4/5
      It is 1974 and the long reign of Haile Selassie in Ethiopia is about to end. That prompts an old man to try to find a woman he knew almost 40 years earlier and to try to recover an old box so they meet for the first time since the pre-WWII years. But this is not what this novel is about -- because this is used just as a framing device to allow Mengiste to tell the story of those pre-war years in Ethiopia - although calling them pre-war is not really correct. While fascism was getting stronger in Europe and the world was slowly moving towards the disaster of the WWII, Benito Mussolini decided to correct an old wrong - 40 years earlier, in 1895-1896, Italy lost its war with Ethiopia for the African country's territory (and independence) and that had never sat well with the Italians - both at home and in Italian Eritrea. So in 1935 he declares the second Italo-Ethiopian War and sends his men marching. And the world is about to burn. But we won't see the Italians for a while - the novel opens with Hirun - a young woman who, after she lost her family, now works for Kidane and Aster - a wealthy couple which had lost their only child, a son, on the same day she came to their household. Kidane and Hirun had known each other for a long time - although it will be much later in the novel that we will know the full extent of that statement - but Aster sees in her a competition and treats her accordingly. The viewpoint the story it told from shifts occasionally although early in the novel it is mainly Hirun's. And in these uneasy days come the rumors that the Italians are coming and Kidane, as the local lord (there is probably a better word than this but that one conveys the meaning) needs to equip an army and defend the country. And Aster and Hirun will not allow to be left behind. And when the Italians arrive, we are meeting the second protagonist of that framing story - Ettore Navarra, a Jewish Italian soldier whose job is to take pictures. His commanding officer is a bully who gets worse with time (especially after an attempts is made on his life) and the cruelty of war replaces most of the domestic drama that this all started with. Most but not all - because some of the worst cruelties will come from the hands of the people who one had known for a long time. The structure of the story does not make much sense until you start seeing the references to Aida and you realize that you are looking at an opera - with chorus and interludes, with acts and scenes. And somewhere in between the acts are the photos - they are never printed, they are just described, as a still photo that is shown at the beginning of a still movie. And the opera and the photo album are so intertwined that they make a complete whole out of the parts. In her note at the end of the novel Mengiste says that she wanted to tell the lost stories of the women that participated in the Italo-Ethiopian War (including her own great-grandmother), the forgotten fighters that had to go back home and be forgotten when it was all over. The chosen format helps - without that operatic structure, I would not considered that a successful attempt (we hear very little about most of the women) but it is all there -- partially nameless (and representing all women), partially on the actions of Astrid and Hirun and Fifi (a prostitute by day, a resistance leader by night) and the cook). And it also allows the rise of an unexpected hero - a man who had been called Noone by his own mother and who ends up being everything for everyone. By the end of the novel, roles will be reversed and the everything will want to be the noone -- and will try to be. And as the novel progresses, you learn to recognize the parts -- in the Interludes we see Haile Selassie and his reactions, in the photo album we see most of the cruelty, the chorus adds the missing context and the acts and scenes carry the story. And while the story is careening towards its known end - the occupation of Ethiopia and then its liberation - the life of Ettore is also careening towards the abyss. Being a Jew is not the most healthy thing to be towards the end of the 30s. And those stories intertwine -- changing the roles of the involved to the point where when someone talks for the future or we get a glimpse of it, we cannot tell who is the prisoner and who is the guard; we cannot tell who we need to be sympathetic to. I liked the novel quite a lot but I wish an editor had cut some of it. Not the action - but the prose. Mengiste tends to be over-wordy in places where it seems like a single word will be enough (although she can also be economical with her prose where it actually matters). There are whole sections which read like an exercise in style and not as a part of the novel -- they are there mainly to show her way with words. Which works well now and then but when it happens every few pages, you wish someone had edited them out; by the middle of the novel they start being tiresome, despite their beauty. For a novel about a war, where noone exits unscathed, it is a surprisingly upbeat one. Giving up, while considered often, is never an option and finding one's way through is considered the only way ahead -- a sentiment that the parents of all our main characters seem to have had - thus linking them again into an invisible net. And the cruelty does not always come from the enemy -- on either side. I would still recommend the novel, even if it may be too wordy for a lot of people.
    • 5/5
      Indiespensable lives up to its name, again. I am so glad I read this, even if the story was so bleak. I kept coming back, and was racing by the end. Well told.
    • 5/5
      Utterly enthralling novel of the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 by Mussolini's fascist army, which lasted until 1941. The novel details how bands of guerrillas fight the Italian soldiers, concentrating on two "women warriors": Hirut and Aster. The emperor Haile Selassie is in exile in England, but to boost morale, Hirut seizes on the idea of a "shadow emperor": a simple peasant posing as the emperor to put heart into the Ethiopian soldiers that their emperor is with them leading them to victory. She becomes his bodyguard. We also meet Ettore, an Italian military photographer whose path crosses Hirut's. Ettore is not completely sympathetic with the Italian war effort. Years later after the Italians had been driven from that land the two meet again. She has a box of his with newspaper clippings, photos, and letters from that time, most importantly a letter from his father that he has treasured.The style was strange and was difficult to get used to: very lyrical in extended descriptions but no differentiation when people were speaking, i.e., no apostrophes. Many of the foreign words were explained, but I couldn't visualize the articles of clothing they wore; the author used Amharic terms she didn't explain. It wouldn't go amiss to read some background on the Italo-Ethiopian conflict before reading the novel. The author based the heroine on one of her ancestors, which was another point of interest.Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      It is almost necessary to look up the Italian-Ethiopian War of 1935 to completely understand this novel. Set just after Italy has invaded Ethiopia, this is the story of the men and especially the women who resisted the Italians. Hirut is a young woman who finds herself as a maid in the house of a leader in Haile Selassie's army. His wife Astra is often cruel to her and Kidane has made unwelcome advances more than once.As the invasion occurs, the women first take care of the sick and wounded, but soon Aster is also a leader as the women take on an increasingly active role in the warfare. At one point, Selassie fleas the country and another man who is a peasant looks so much like him that he is used as a "Shadow King" for Selassie.Hirut, Aster, Kidane, and several other "rebels" are the main characters along with an Italian photographer, Ettore. Ettore is Jewish and is becoming aware of his own father's history and the fact that Jews will soon be persecuted in Italy. I enjoyed most of the writing in this book and it certainly is a piece of history that I knew nothing about. There are many foreign phrases (usually can be easily understood, but at other times, overwhelming). Due to the complexity of the background to this war, I probably didn't appreciate as much as I should have. Best to just first read a Wikipedia article about the war to get background.
    • 4/5
      A nice collection of stories from all over Africa and the disapora(s). I didn't love every story, but it introduced me to a lot of authors I wouldn't have otherwise found.