{"product_id":"the-wifes-tale-a-personal-history-paperback","title":"The Wife's Tale: A Personal History - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAida Edemariam\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Finalist for The Governor General's Award for Nonfiction \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"The extraordinary memoir of a woman who lived through the cataclysmic events that shaped modern Ethiopian history. The narrative, which is lovingly and expertly put together by her granddaughter, is a window into a world that would otherwise be invisible to us.\" -- Abraham Verghese, author of \u003cem\u003eCutting for Stone\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn this indelible memoir that recalls the life of her remarkable ninety-five-year old grandmother, \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e journalist Aida Edemariam tells the story of modern Ethiopia--a nation that would undergo a tumultuous transformation from feudalism to monarchy to Marxist revolution to democracy, over the course of one century.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn in the northern Ethiopian city of Gondar in about 1916, Yetemegnu was married and had given birth before she turned fifteen. As the daughter of a socially prominent man, she also offered her husband, a poor yet gifted student, the opportunity to become an important religious leader.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver the next decades Yetemegnu would endure extraordinary trials: the death of some of her children; her husband's imprisonment; and the detention of one of her sons. She witnessed the Fascist invasion of Ethiopia and the subsequent resistance, suffered Allied bombardment and exile from her city; lived through a bloody revolution and the nationalization of her land. She gained audiences with Emperor Haile Selassie I to argue for justice for her husband, for revenge, and for her children's security, and fought court battles to defend her assets against powerful men. But sustained, in part, by her fierce belief in the Virgin Mary and in Orthodox Christianity, Yetemegnu survived. She even learned to read, in her sixties, and eventually made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold in Yetemegnu's enthralling voice and filled with a vivid cast of characters--emperors and empresses, priests and scholars, monks and nuns, archbishops and slaves, Marxist revolutionaries and wartime double agents--\u003cem\u003eThe Wife's Tale\u003c\/em\u003e introduces a woman both imperious and vulnerable; a mother, widow, and businesswoman whose deep faith and numerous travails never quashed her love of laughter, mischief and dancing; a fighter whose life was shaped by direct contact with the volatile events that transformed her nation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn intimate memoir that offers a panoramic view of Ethiopia's recent history, \u003cem\u003eThe Wife's Tale\u003c\/em\u003e takes us deep into the landscape, rituals, social classes, and culture of this ancient, often mischaracterized, richly complex, and unforgettable land--and into the heart of one indomitable woman.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA hundred years ago, a girl was born in the northern Ethiopian city of Gondar. Before she was ten years old, Yetemegnu was married to a man two decades her senior, an ambitious poet-priest. Over the next century, her world changed beyond recognition. She lived through Fascist invasion and occupation, Allied bombardment, exile from her city, the ascent and fall of Emperor Haile Selassie, revolution, and civil war. She endured all these things alongside parenthood, widowhood, and the death of children.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Wife's Tale\u003c\/em\u003e is an intimate memoir both of a life and of a country. In prose steeped in Yetemegnu's distinctive voice and point of view, Aida Edemariam retells her grandmother's stories of a childhood surrounded by proud priests and soldiers, her coming of age, her husband's imprisonment, and her fight for justice--all played out against the rhythms of the natural world and the rituals of the Orthodox Church. She introduces us to a rich cast of characters--emperors and empresses, scholars and nuns, Marxist revolutionaries and wartime double agents. Through these encounters she takes us deep into the landscape and culture of this multilayered, often mischaracterized country--and into the heart of one courageous woman.\u003c\/p\u003e--\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA hundred years ago, a girl was born in the northern Ethiopian city of Gondar. Before she was ten years old, Yetemegnu was married to a man two decades her senior, an ambitious poet-priest. Over the next century, her world changed beyond recognition. She lived through Fascist invasion and occupation, Allied bombardment, exile from her city, the ascent and fall of Emperor Haile Selassie, revolution, and civil war. She endured all these things alongside parenthood, widowhood, and the death of children.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Wife's Tale\u003c\/em\u003e is an intimate memoir both of a life and of a country. In prose steeped in Yetemegnu's distinctive voice and point of view, Aida Edemariam retells her grandmother's stories of a childhood surrounded by proud priests and soldiers, her coming of age, her husband's imprisonment, and her fight for justice--all played out against the rhythms of the natural world and the rituals of the Orthodox Church. She introduces us to a rich cast of characters--emperors and empresses, scholars and nuns, Marxist revolutionaries and wartime double agents. Through these encounters she takes us deep into the landscape and culture of this multilayered, often mischaracterized country--and into the heart of one courageous woman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 336\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 8 x 5.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 19, 2019\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48580903764216,"sku":"9780062136053","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0698\/5629\/7208\/files\/1Obmv4iq1l9780062136053.webp?v=1779713287","url":"https:\/\/barneysbooksellers.com\/products\/the-wifes-tale-a-personal-history-paperback","provider":"Barney's Book Sellers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}