‘A moving, compelling, deeply human novel about love and hope in a city under siege’ Emma Stonex, bestselling author of The Lamplighters
Priscilla Morris is the daughter of a Bosnian mother and a Cornish father. She grew up in London, spending summers in Sarajevo, and studied at Cambridge University and the University of East Anglia, where she gained her PhD in Creative Writing. She teaches Creative Writing at University College Dublin and divides her time between Ireland and Spain. Black Butterflies is her debut novel.
'Feels totally authentic… Along with human kindness, there is
a quiet emphasis on the power of art: Zora’s paintings, like
the existence of this book, are testimony to the way that wars come
and go but art goes on forever’ The Sunday Times
'A lyrical, devastating and timely love letter to war-torn
Sarajevo... There are moments of shocking brutality set against
others of unexpected beauty and resilience. Exquisitely crafted, it
pulses with tension: we couldn’t stop turning the
pages' Rachel Joyce, Guardian
'A gripping, heartbreaking yet hopeful tale of human resilience,
compassion, and the haunting devastations of war. A book that will
stay with you for a long time' Cecile Pin, author of Wandering
Souls
'An intensely evocative and deeply moving debut – I held my
breath as I read’ Ruth Gilligan, RSL Ondaatje Prize-winning
author of The Butchers
‘Beautifully written and hauntingly evocative, Black
Butterflies distils into a single consciousness a nation’s
violent trauma and an artist’s sense of hope. Priscilla Morris has
crafted a rich and highly accomplished debut’ Sam Byers,
author of Perfidious Albion
‘In this compelling and convincing debut
novel, Morris brilliantly evokes a world slipping, day by day,
under the surface of the opaque waters of war. Dark and yet
starkly beautiful, Black Butterflies is a narrative of
how violence scars the soul of a city and its inhabitants. It is at
once a testament to the victims and survivors of the Siege of
Sarajevo, to the power of art and to Morris's skills as a
storyteller, all the more keenly felt for the subtlety with which
they are deployed’ Aminatta Forna, author of Happiness
‘Black Butterflies is incredible, a must-read. There are
few novels that stay with you after the final page is read, but
this is one. Brutal yet also uplifting, immersive and
real, it shows what the human spirit is capable of' Karen
Angelico, author of Everything We Are
‘An astonishingly good debut, chronicling one of the
darkest times in global history. It reads so
authentically that I might assume it was a book in
translation, albeit by an excellent translator. Like food and fuel
in the Siege of Sarajevo, no word is wasted. Zora’s story broke my
heart, and I hope it will open the hearts of all those who
read it to refugees, at a time when history is destined to
repeat itself’ Liz Nugent, author of Our Little Cruelties
‘Black Butterflies is an elegy to the vibrant and
inclusive society... This novel comes at an apt time, not just
because it marks the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of the
Siege of Sarajevo, but because it testifies to the ease and speed
with which things can fall apart’ Kevin Sullivan, author of
The Longest Winter
'This is a dark novel, but one that wrests beauty and hope out of
suffering. It is a work of literature that transforms horror and
violence into a life force' New York Times
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