Black Butterflies cover art

Black Butterflies

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Black Butterflies

By: Priscilla Morris
Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2023

SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS’ CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2023

‘A moving, compelling, deeply human novel about love, hope and resilience in a city under siege. Everyone should read it’ Emma Stonex, bestselling author of The Lamplighters

Sarajevo, spring 1992. 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.

When violence finally spills over, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother to safety with her daughter in England. Reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a handful of weeks, she stays behind while the city falls under siege. As the assault deepens and everything they love is laid to waste, black ashes floating over the rooftops, Zora and her friends are forced to rebuild themselves, over and over. Theirs is a breathtaking story of disintegration, resilience and hope.

©2023 Priscilla Morris (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Scary City War

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Mess We're In cover art
That Bonesetter Woman cover art
The Communist's Daughter cover art
Yellow Crocus cover art
Leonora in the Morning Light cover art
The Silent Child cover art
The Tuscan Secret cover art
Goodbye to Budapest cover art
An Act of Love cover art
A Mother's War cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Brutally beautiful story about war, art and storytelling, and the mindlessness and importance of it all. The main characters are real people to me now.

Beautiful and so human

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This great performance and writing captured perfectly the desent of everyday life into one of hopelessness through war.

Loved this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Poignant read as history repeats itself a decade later across the world. A love story, a story of war, of fighting for life, normality… very good.

Poignant and Sad

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A haunting & heartbreaking story of the horror and brutality of war, alongside the comfort and strength brought about by the relationships forged in the war torn city of Sarajevo.
An intense and moving read, highly recommended and enhanced by the wonderful narration.

Haunting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Morris tells the story of the city of Sarajevo seized in the war.

The shock as the war spreads, impact and aftermath beautifully told.

It’s a wonderful debut novel from a talented new author.

Highly recommended!

Fantastic new author

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent story that builds and builds. Full picture of humanity at it's best in a desperate situation. Stunning performance by the reader

Compelling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In Zora's story, Priscilla Morris presents a deeply personal account of the indiscriminate brutality of war eroding life to its barest essentials....yet hope remains in the spaces between. The performance brings the text to life wonderfully and adds to the reality of the characters. A wonderful, haunting and important story, especially relevant at this time of another war in Eastern Europe. A genuine must read!

Deeply affecting, beautifully written & performed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent narration and an enjoyable if traumatic listen. I remember this war and this shows the importance of historical fiction

Bridges

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A fantastic listen
Free on audible but would happily pay as the story is really captivating. Recommended

Wonderfully written

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Some of the criticism of this book has been about it reading as a history text rather than a novel. I disagree. This is a great piece of writing that brings terrible events alive, especially as I am old enough to remember this playing out nightly on the news. The systematic stripping away of civilisation from the middle aged, middle class narrator illustrates how savage and inhuman is one of the most human follies we carry from generation to generation. The narration is not fussy and maybe this is a reason why some have seen it as a flat piece of historic reporting. It is a good listen, short, and powerful, giving voice to someone who so far has not really been listened to.

HERSTORY

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews