Beneath the Lion's Gaze A Novel [Paperback]

An extraordinary novel, which assembles a dauntingly broad cast of characters and, through them, tells stories that nobody can want to hear, in such a way that we cannot stop listening.Revolutionary Ethiopia in the seventies is the searing backdrop for Maaza Mengiste's incandescent debut&the acutely observed story of a familya prominent doctor and his sons, one moderate, one mutinousundone by war.The real marvel of this tender novel is its coiled plotting, in which coincidence manages to evoke the colossal emotional toll of the revolution.Mengiste gracefully builds the story to a heart-pumping conclusion&Even with its share of tragedy, this is an absorbing drama&enhanced by the author's spare, spectacular prose. An important novel, rich in compassion for its anguished characters.