
Oromay
Baalu Girma(Author)
Soho Press Inc
Will be published approx. on 6. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
408 pages
978-1-64129-744-8 (ISBN)
Description
"December 1981, Ethiopia. Tsegaye Hailemaryam, a well-known journalist for the state-run media, has just landed in Asmara. He is on assignment as the head of propaganda for the Red Star campaign, a massive effort by the Ethiopian government to end the Eritrean insurgency. There, amid the city's bars and coffeehouses buzzing with spies and government agents, he juggles the demands of his superiors while trying to reassure his fiancâee back home that he's not straying with Asmara's famed beauties. As Tsegaye falls in love with Asmara-and, in spite of his promises, with dazzling, enigmatic local woman Fiammetta-his misgivings about the campaign grow. Tsegaye confronts the horror of war when he is sent with an elite army unit to attack the insurgents' mountain stronghold. In the aftermath, he encounters betrayals that shake his faith in both the regime and human nature. Oromay became an instant sensation when first published in 1983 and was swiftly banned for its frank depiction of the regime. The author vanished soon thereafter; the consensus is that he was murdered in retaliation for Oromay. A sweeping and timeless story about power and betrayal in love and war, the novel remains Girma's masterpiece"--
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 142 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
364 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64129-744-8 (9781641297448)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Baalu Girma (1939 - ?) was one of Ethiopia's greatest writers and Oromay was his most famous novel. Its unflattering portrait of the regime caused the book to be banned and Girma to be fired. He vanished on Valentine's Day 1984, likely kidnapped and murdered by the Derg.