When it gets too dark and cold, my husband and I scuttle off to our house in the hills near Girona, Spain. The image that was the catalyst for the writing of the novel was that of flames billowing through the windows of the Bosnian National Library, where my great-uncle had his studio. But it is more than this: without sentimentality, it examines political and philosophical questions that come abruptly to the fore when the inhabitants of a modern city are starved and shot.

To quote from John Buchan’s The Power-House, ‘You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilisation from barbarism. Given the subject matter, that is not surprising and the author paints a vivid picture of the struggles of daily life amidst a horrific war. So, I can honestly say this book is very accurate knowledge that I have of the situation, even though it is a novel – – historical fiction.She shares Zora’s love and pride in her hometown and we too feel like it really is the most wonderful place in the world. BLACK BUTTERFLIES was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023, the RSL Ondaatje Prize, the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award, the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize and the Nota Bene Prize. The residents of Zora’s apartment building stuck together and supported each other revealing their resilience and love for their community as they painted, sang and watched out for one another. Unfortunately, subsequent to the recognition of Bosnia as an independent and sovereign nation, the Bosnian War broke out and Sarajevo was under siege. Inspired by real accounts and family history, Black Butterflies is an authentic tale of disintegration, resilience and hope.

But when violence finally spills over, she sees that she must send her husband and elderly mother to safety with her daughter in England. War can creep up on a population: it can begin ever so gradually as freedoms are slowly eroded before suddenly reaching a tipping point, erupting and changing lives and families forever. Published in May 2022 to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the start of the almost-four-year assault, this is Priscilla’s debut novel. Za sada jedina knjiga iz ovogodišnje Women's prize for fiction selekcije koja me je privukla i to zato što je tema romana opsada Sarajeva. Initially we see her painting its bridges and landscapes—and later the destruction and fires that take over the city.

Beautifully written and hauntingly evocative, Black Butterflies distils into a single consciousness a nation’s violent trauma and an artist’s sense of hope. Yes, yes, I understand… war time, living in the present, exceptional circumstances, absent spouses, can’t function within normal societal rules,.