Black Butterflies

A novel

By: Priscilla Morris

Narrated by: Rachel Atkins, Priscilla Morris

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE YEAR • SHORT-LISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION • FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE 2025 • A timeless story of strife and hope set during the conflict in the Balkans in the early '90s—a searing debut novel about a woman who faces the war on her doorstep with courage, fierceness, and an unshakable belief in the power of art.

“A reflective novel . . . that tells us life goes on, love stories develop, humanity remains in the most inhumane of times.” —Irish Independent

Sarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erect makeshift barricades, splitting the city into ethnic enclaves. Each morning, the people who live there—whether Muslim, Croat, or Serb—push the barriers aside.

When violence erupts and becomes, finally, unavoidable, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother to safety in England. She stays behind, reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a few weeks. As the city falls under siege, everything she loves about her home is laid to waste, black ashes floating over the rooftops. Yet Zora and her friends find ways to rebuild themselves, over and over. Told with breathtaking immediacy, this is a story of disintegration, resilience, and hope—a stirring debut from a commanding new voice.

The honesty of war on a population

Good personality and character development draw the reader into story and a period of recent history

the horror

senseless cruelty just short of cannabium.Excellent detailed writing / images. unforgettable with a gracious brave protagonist

Moving and unsettlingly relative in 2025

This book knocked my socks off. I can’t get past the fact that as I listened in late 2025 in the U.S., I simultaneously read the news that seemed to somehow echo the same nationalistic perspectives that ultimately led to the Bosnian War. Unless we learn from it, as Morris so beautifully shares in her unrelenting and painful story, history can and will repeat itself. Read this and consider global powers today from the not-so-old and often forgotten perspective of civilians in Bosnia. I gained a lot by reading this book.

Beautiful prose -simple story

I binged this audiobook in 48 hours. The authors lyrical storytelling is beautiful to listen to in the background. However, I felt the plot was very uncompelling. It wasn’t until halfway through the book that anything noteworthy began to take place around the main character. I enjoyed listening to this book in the background while I cooked and cleaned around the house. It was a delicate backdrop to simple work. Personally I wish it contained more historical content about the war.