The History of a Difficult Child: A Novel

The History of a Difficult Child: A Novel

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SKU: DADAX0593298616
UPC: 9780593298619
Brand: Viking
$15.13 $21.61
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An endearing comingofage 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 Prizeshortlisted author of The Shadow KingAn exhilarating novel by a powerful new writer. Elif Batuman, author of PulitzerPrize finalist The Idiot and Either/OrA breathtaking, tragicomic debut novel about the indomitable child of a scorned, formerly landowning family who must grow up in the wake of Ethiopias socialist revolutionWisecracking, 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, landowning 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 Selams 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.

⚠️ WARNING (California Proposition 65):

This product may contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.

For more information, please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

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