In the early 1990s, Nadija and her family were living an ordinary life in Sarajevo, until the city was besieged by war.
In
Ten Thousand Shells and Counting
, Nadija recounts her harrowing personal experience of the three-and-a-half-year-long conflict, where death and destruction were everyday occurrences. Nadija lost her home, her family member, and she and her family became refugees. But even amid the horrors of war, life had to go on. Children attended makeshift schools, teenagers partied all night to avoid the curfew, and new love interests bloomed. Through it all, Nadija witnessed the human spirit endure, even as ten thousand shells and more rained down upon the city.
is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.
Highlights by BookLife Prize:
Mujagic's prose is descriptive, polished, and features well-integrated historical and political details without ever becoming dry. Memoirs relating to experiences during war are familiar, but few focus on the conflicts impacting Sarajevo, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, and few with such a wealth of engaging detail. The author excels at personalizing the experience of one's home being under siege through vivid, in-scene descriptions, while also clearly conveying the particular circumstances of the Bosnian war. Mujagic's framing of her story through the lens of PTSD, allows for greater resonance and relatability.
"A book millennials must read."
Amazon Book Review