Under the lion's gaze

Acclaimed by New York magazine and nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Ethiopian writer Maaza Mengiste revisits her homeland in a powerful novel.

The plot of "Under the Lion's Eye" is set in 1970s Ethiopia, ravaged by war, famine, and a severe economic crisis. The author tells the story of a family torn apart by social and political chaos, the result of a coup d'état carried out by Derg militants—a junta created by a group of Marxist military men who embraced violence—against the legendary Emperor Haile Selassie. In this hostile environment, the experienced doctor Hailu struggles to maintain his family's foundations while watching his wife's health, stricken with a serious illness, deteriorate.

The military coup will have different effects on their children: while the youngest, Dawit, grows ever closer to a militia hostile to the Derg, the eldest, the passive Yonas, sees his marriage crumble as he turns with all his strength to religion. Father and children will be permanently marked by the violence of an authoritarian regime and the difficulties of family life.

The atrocities of a turbulent period in Ethiopian history, coupled with the complex web of human relationships in the face of violence and loss, are masterfully explored in Under the Lion's Eye , Maaza Mengiste's debut novel. A courageous account of the powerful and the anonymous, truth and lies, reality and fiction.