The History of a Difficult Child
Read by
Waceke Wambaa
Release:
06/27/2023
Runtime:
13h 41m
Unabridged
Quantity:
An endearing coming-of-age story set in post-revolutionary Ethiopia . . . Sharp and witty. . . . Like other child narrators — see Giovanna in Elena Ferrante’s “The Lying Life of Adults”; Esch in Jesmyn Ward’s “Salvage the Bones
Selam is curious and obsessive about the truth. . . . Selam’s pressing queries guide Sibhat’s debut, a wily and operatic novel about a former aristocratic family’s adjustment to post-revolutionary Ethiopia. . . . The History of a Difficult Child spans decades, swinging between the past (before Selam) and the present with a casual and impressive ease. . . . [Sibhat] has built a portrait of Ethiopia’s history while giving us a compelling family drama anchored by a distinctive heroine. . . . Sibhat’s ability to find humor in even the darkest situations keeps The History of a Difficult Child nimble and propulsive.
WINNER OF THE HURSTON/WRIGHT LEGACY AWARD
“An endearing coming-of-age story. . . . Sharp and witty. . . . A wily and operatic novel. . . . Propulsive.” —The Washington Post
"The History of a Difficult Child is an extraordinary novel." —Maaza Mengiste, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Shadow King
“An exhilarating novel by a powerful new writer.” —Elif Batuman, author of Pulitzer-Prize finalist The Idiot and Either/Or
A breathtaking, tragicomic debut novel about the indomitable child of a scorned, formerly land-owning family who must grow up in the wake of Ethiopia’s socialist revolution
Wisecracking, inquisitive, and bombastic, Selam Asmelash is the youngest child in her large, boisterous family. Even before she is born, she has a wry, bewitching omniscience that animates life in her Small Town in southwestern Ethiopia in the 1980s. Selam and her father listen to the radio in secret as the socialist military junta that recently overthrew the government seizes properties and wages civil war in the North. The Asmelashes, once an enterprising, land-owning family, are ostracized under the new regime. In the Small Town where they live, nosy women convene around coffee ceremonies multiple times a day, the gossip spreading like wildfire.
As Selam’s mother, the powerful and relentlessly dignified Degitu, grows ill, she embraces a persecuted, Pentecostal God and insists her family convert alongside her. The Asmelashes stand solidly in opposition to the times, and Selam grows up seeking revenge on despotic comrades, neighborhood bullies, and a ruthless God. Wise beyond her years yet thoroughly naive, she contends with an inner fury, a profound sadness, and a throbbing, unstoppable pursuit of education, freedom, and love.
Told through the perspective of its charming and irresistible narrator, The History of a Difficult Child is about what happens when mother, God, and country are at odds, and how one difficult child finds her voice.
“An endearing coming-of-age story. . . . Sharp and witty. . . . A wily and operatic novel. . . . Propulsive.” —The Washington Post
"The History of a Difficult Child is an extraordinary novel." —Maaza Mengiste, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Shadow King
“An exhilarating novel by a powerful new writer.” —Elif Batuman, author of Pulitzer-Prize finalist The Idiot and Either/Or
A breathtaking, tragicomic debut novel about the indomitable child of a scorned, formerly land-owning family who must grow up in the wake of Ethiopia’s socialist revolution
Wisecracking, inquisitive, and bombastic, Selam Asmelash is the youngest child in her large, boisterous family. Even before she is born, she has a wry, bewitching omniscience that animates life in her Small Town in southwestern Ethiopia in the 1980s. Selam and her father listen to the radio in secret as the socialist military junta that recently overthrew the government seizes properties and wages civil war in the North. The Asmelashes, once an enterprising, land-owning family, are ostracized under the new regime. In the Small Town where they live, nosy women convene around coffee ceremonies multiple times a day, the gossip spreading like wildfire.
As Selam’s mother, the powerful and relentlessly dignified Degitu, grows ill, she embraces a persecuted, Pentecostal God and insists her family convert alongside her. The Asmelashes stand solidly in opposition to the times, and Selam grows up seeking revenge on despotic comrades, neighborhood bullies, and a ruthless God. Wise beyond her years yet thoroughly naive, she contends with an inner fury, a profound sadness, and a throbbing, unstoppable pursuit of education, freedom, and love.
Told through the perspective of its charming and irresistible narrator, The History of a Difficult Child is about what happens when mother, God, and country are at odds, and how one difficult child finds her voice.
Release:
2023-06-27
Runtime:
13h 41m
Format:
audio
Weight:
0.0 lb
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780593742266
Publisher:
Penguin Random House
Praise