Ethiopia, a breathtaking country rich in culture and history, has inspired numerous authors to tell its stories. From historical fiction to memoirs and children's books, there's a wealth of literature that explores the nation's past and present. Here's a curated collection of books that offer insights into Ethiopian history and culture.
Novels
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Set mostly around a hospital in Addis Ababa, this big, bittersweet, beautifully written novel follows the family’s fortunes over five decades. In 1954, a young Indian nun working at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa dies while giving birth to identical twins. Their father, a well-respected British surgeon, disappears, abandoning the boys. Fortunately for the twins, the two doctors who deliver them become their loving, adoptive parents.
As the boys come of age, Ethiopia’s turbulent politics - executions, rebellions, coups - play out sometimes on the periphery of their personal story and sometimes at its very centre. The “elder” twin, Marion, narrates the tale, at the heart of which is an act of betrayal that breaks the strong bond between him and his brother Shiva. When political events take a dangerous turn, forcing Marion to flee to New York, he finds himself becoming entangled with his past and forced to come to terms with it.
Verghese, an acute observer, vividly evokes life at the hospital and in the bustling capital. He delivers a page-turning, emotionally absorbing tale - despite a surfeit of medical detail (the book’s title is a phrase from the Hippocratic oath). The Ethiopian-born author is a doctor who lives, writes and teaches medicine in the US. This, his first novel, has sold more than a million copies.
Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste
Mengiste’s novel of the early years of Ethiopia’s revolution begins in 1974 as student demonstrations and famine lead to the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie by the military. She creates an intimate portrait of an extended family, and it is through their eyes that we see the revolution unfolding - and descending into chaos and brutality.
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Hailu, a respected surgeon in Addis Ababa, and his elder son Yonas, a university professor, prefer to keep their distance from Ethiopia’s violent and dangerous politics. But the younger son, Dawit, is determined to be politically active. Initially, he is a student protestor against the emperor and supports the Marxist junta. Later, when the military begins to crush dissent and sow terror, he becomes a brave and dogged opponent of the regime. Dawit recalls his mother telling him that “hope can never come from doing nothing”.
When the military forces Hailu to treat a young woman who has been horrifically tortured, a decision he makes causes him and his family to be swept up in the political storm. This compassionate, tightly woven tale immediately draws the reader into its unfurling domestic and political drama. It’s an impressive literary debut. Mengiste’s family left Ethiopia when she was a child; she now lives in the US.
Memoirs
Notes From the Hyena’s Belly by Nega Mezlekia
Mezlekia’s powerful and poignant memoir recounts his coming of age in the turbulent decades straddling the ousting of Haile Selassie. Born in Jijiga, a city where Amhara Christians and ethnic Somali Muslims live in “a multicultural mixing bowl”, he has fond recollections of family life and early schooldays.
However, the best of times in childhood is followed by the worst of times in adolescence as Ethiopia endures famine, civil war, repression and war with neighbouring Somalia. As his political awareness grows, Mezlekia joins student protests calling for land reform. But the struggle is to be “long and treacherous”. His first spell in prison, where torture is routine, is at 14 - followed by many more.
In 1977-78, the Marxist military rulers unleash their “Red Terror”, leaving 100,000 young people dead in the carnage. With “the revolution eating Ethiopia’s children at an alarming rate”, Mezlekia, at 18, joins an armed rebel group. Ethnic tensions within the group eventually force him to leave, and he slips back into civilian life. Both his father and his beloved Mam meet violent deaths.
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Despite the harsh realities, Mezlekia tells his story - and the story of his country - with wry humour, interspersing facts with folktales. It’s a gripping insider’s insight into contemporary Ethiopia.
What led to Emperor Haile Selassie's Tragic Fall
Children's Books
This list is by no means exhaustive, nor is it meant to be the only reading material your children will ever need.
- Abeba is about Abeba, an Ethiopian girl. As time for bed approaches, Abeba says good night to those she loves and cares about in four different languages (English, Amharic, French and German).
- Yuvi's Candy Tree In Ethiopia, Yuvi dreams of a land where water flows, bread is plentiful, and candy grows on trees.
- Alemitu lives with her mother in a poor village in Ethiopia, where she must walk miles for water and hunger roars in her belly. Even though life is difficult, she dreams of someday knowing more about the world. When her mother has no choice but to leave her at an orphanage to give her a chance at a better life, an American family adopts Alemitu. She becomes Eva in her new home in America, and although her life there is better in so many ways, she'll never forget her homeland and the mother who gave up so much for her.
- As her father prepares for a trip back to his childhood home in Ethiopia, Desta begins to worry. Where does her father truly belong--in the village of his youth or here in America with her? What was growing up in Ethiopia like?
- Gloria is making a delicious porridge, but she's too hungry to share it with the cat. When Gloria goes to fetch some water, cat eats all the porridge . Angry Gloria shakes her spoon at the cat, and the scared cat runs away, starting a chaos around her.
- When Almaz makes a mistake in school, she's really embarrassed! Other kids tease her because they don't understand her Ethiopian culture. How can she use her family's traditions to make friends? Is an Inspiring gentle folktale set in Ancient Ethiopia.
- Tekleh doesn’t mean to cause trouble but everywhere he goes, it follows. When his exasperated father carves him a gebeta (also called mancala) gameboard to keep him occupied, he has no idea the chain of events to come! Follow a curious young Ethiopian boy as he tends his goats and stumbles upon a series of unusual encounters that help him learn not only the value of goods, but of giving.
Ethiopia's Unique Calendar System
Ethiopia’s position near the Earth’s Equator exposes it to more sunlight than many countries, a feature that helped turn Ethiopia into an international travel destination. Ethiopian scholar Dr Worku Mulat wrote this insightful look into the unique calendar system of Ethiopia and how an innovative leader used it to boost worldwide interest in the ancient country’s abundant natural and cultural assets. In the Ethiopian calendar, a year is divided into 13 months.
Ancient History
Since the beginning of humanity, Ethiopia was the origin of some of the most remarkable and important people in history. The bones of one of the first hominids, Lucy, were found in Ethiopia, and stories of legendary Ethiopians stretch back into ancient history. Some of these legends were so famous that they were recorded in ancient Greek Mythology. One of these is the story of the daughter of ancient Ethiopian King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia: Princess Andromeda.
Andromeda’s beauty was so renowned that it ignited the jealousy of Poseidon, who sent a great sea monster to devour her. But her plight inspired the Greek hero Perseus to intervene in her rescue, and then to marry her.
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Two Manuscripts in One Book
Two manuscripts in one book: History of Ethiopia: A Captivating Guide to Ethiopian HistoryThe Italian Invasion of Ethiopia: A Captivating Guide to Mussolini's War in AbyssiniaEthiopia has a long history. It boasts one of the longest-running continuous civilizations on the planet; even the origins of humanity have been traced back to Ethiopia.
Ethiopian kingdoms date back to the days of the Bible, and mentions of Ethiopian monarchs can be found all throughout the historical record.
In the first part of this book, you will discover:
- Ethiopia's origin and the legendary Queen of Sheba
- The Aksumite Empire and the adoption of Christianity
- Ethiopia's Solomonic line-King Solomon to Haile Selassie
- The brief intermission of the Zagwe dynasty
- Ethiopian emperors and how they ruled
- Ethiopia's communist takeover
- Modern Ethiopia
Although the Ethiopians had beaten the Italians at their own game in the 1898 Battle of Adwa, when Italian armored divisions began pouring out of Italian-controlled Eritrea in 1935, the situation seemed almost impossible to overcome. This was not 1898 when the Italians were ill-equipped and ill-advised in their undertakings. The Italians had made sure they were guaranteed the upper hand.
