Two books set in the Balkans to start the year!

“But the thing is, she didn’t die.
No, she went on.”

Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris

A book set during the Siege of Sarajevo hits differently when it is recommended by someone whose family was directly affected by the Bosnian War. It heightens the truth in a work of historical fiction.

It was an easy pick as my first book of the year, despite the promise of grim events. I did not wait for the hard copy to fall into my hands. The e-book was immediately downloaded when I learned that its main characters were an artist, a writer, and a bookstore owner who lent his books during the siege because he believed it was a time when people needed stories the most; and I could not put the book down as soon as I learned that “black butterflies” were the scorched pages from the burning of the national library — “burnt fragments of poetry and art catching in people’s hair.”

The friend who told me that I should read this was not wrong. It is a poignant story about how art triumphs and can oftentimes be the thing that saves us. But at the same time, this book is a sobering and relevant reminder, amidst the season’s celebrations, that similar things are happening in other parts of the world; histories are being erased; libraries are being bombed and burned; entire nations are going through the most violent traumas; and the heritage of entire peoples are being turned to debris.

Books like this convey what hate can do, but books like this also proclaim what art can do. To be one less person in this world who hates — may this be the lesson that the books and the art we consume always teach us.

“He had put the Times Atlas of World History under the paper on which he was noting my answers… The boy likes leafing through it when the shells fall.”

Death in the Museum of Modern Art by Alma Lazarevska

These evocative short stories by Bosnian writer, Alma Lazarevska, complement Black Butterflies. It does not go into detail about the history of the besieged city in which her characters are set. Nothing about what caused the war or about the opposing factions, nothing about a nation’s history. Rather, the history of a day, the history of a feeling, and the intimacy of a thought. Lazarevska leaves the greater scheme of things to the historians and paints ordinary life and “the space of their painful interweaving” as the city is being starved and bombed. 

This was recommended to me by another friend after I posted about Black Butterflies. I wouldn’t have predicted earlier on that the first two books I’d read in 2025 would be set in the Balkans, and yet, here we are. Are the Balkans calling (louder this time)?

In one of the stories, an Austrian writer is referred to, “Whose books are an excellent weapon against shallow sentiment.” That line stuck with me and it aptly applies to this masterful work.

Thank you, Anna and Vishy for these splendid recommendations!

11 thoughts on “Two books set in the Balkans to start the year!”

  1. Beautiful review, Mira. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Have you read Miljenko Jergovic’s Sarajevo Marlboro and Alma Lazarevska’s Death in the Museum of Modern Art? They are also set in Sarajevo during the siege, and are very beautiful. Both are collections of short stories.

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    1. Thank you, Vishy! I love Sarajevo Marlboro! But I haven’t heard of Death in the Museum of Modern Art until you mentioned it. It looks like something I would like to read! Thank you so much for recommending it! Happy New Year, Vishy!

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      1. Nice to know that you loved Sarajevo Marlboro, Mira 😊 Hope you enjoy Death in the Museum of Modern Art. Thank you for the wishes. Happy New Year to you too 😊

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  2. A beautiful write up Mira! I choked up when I realised the “black butterflies” were the ashes of books. I am so glad you enjoyed this book, I had a feeling you would because of the artist and the bookshop owner!

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    1. Thank you, Anna dear! You know me well!

      Just finished reading Vishy’s recommendation and added my thoughts to this post. Death in the Museum of Modern Art complements Black Butterflies quite well and I loved reading both consecutively!

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      1. Wow you get onto recommendations quick smart! lol. I just said to my husband it’s time I buy an EReader, it’s so hard to find some of the books in paper form! Having read your extra on this post I will have to get Death in the Museum of Modern Art somehow!

        And yes the Balkans is calling! You would love Mostar for sure!!!

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      2. Yes, especially when they’re from friends who know my taste in books! Haha ❤

        I've also been putting off getting a Kindle but the temptation is becoming stronger. Although I quelch the temptation by telling myself that the model I want costs as much as a one-way trip to Mostar. 🤣

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