Black Butterflies: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2023

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Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris is a lyrical, devastating and timely love letter to war-torn Sarajevo.

Nisam baš sigurna šta sam tačno očekivala, ali ovo što sam dobila je onako, recimo ok, tačno pisana za zapadnjake. Born to a Bosnian mother and a Cornish father, I grew up mostly in London, spending childhood summers in my mother's hometown of Sarajevo.

Zora’s strength, resilience, and love for her family and her art were on full display, but I wish we had seen more of the nuances of her character.

Each night, nationalist gangs erect barricades, splitting the diverse city into ethnic enclaves; each morning, the residents – whether Muslim, Croat or Serb – push the makeshift barriers aside. I wrote my debut novel BLACK BUTTERFLIES (2022) to understand the siege that devastated Sarajevo from 1992-1996. While the book doesn’t go into the motivations and differences that led to the conflict (indeed, the characters themselves are at a loss to point a finger at why), it goes give one an insight into the kind of multicultural space Sarajevo was. I may have been raised at the height of ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland but I have no concept of life in a war zone.And she treats it with subtlety and sensitivity—we feel pain, loss, helplessness, hopelessness—and without bringing in the slightest hint of drama.

I discovered that it was the longest siege in modern warfare and it gave me insight into what living in a war zone must be like for those Ukrainians who are unable to leave. For Zora, being deprived of her ability to make art is almost as bad; being an artist is part of her very identity. In particular, I was inspired by the stories of my great-uncle’s loss of his art studio during the war. million people were displaced, making it the most devastating conflict in Europe since the end of World War II. Undoubtedly paints a vivid picture of a besieged Sarajevo in 1992, and deserves to be read for that reason.

As the shelling begins, Zora pleads with her husband to take her elderly mother to stay with her married daughter in England. Inspired by real accounts and family history, Black Butterflies is an authentic tale of disintegration, resilience and hope.