Shards

Reassembling the fragments of a life shattered by war is the task of the narrator of this challenging first novel set in 1995. The narrator, also named Ismet Prcic, is a young Bosnian who has escaped the bitter war in his home country and come to America after the theater troupe he is part of is given permission to perform in Scotland. Enrolled in college in Los Angeles and suffering from post-traumatic stress, he takes a writing class in which he is urged to get his experience down on paper as a way of processing it. What emerges is a memoir of growing up in Bosnia both before and during the war. Alongside this is the story of alter ego Mustafa, a young Bosnian soldier who experiences the full horror of the war. VERDICT Part coming-of-age tale and part war story, this novel contrasts sweetly innocent reminiscences of growing up in Tuzla with harrowing depictions of the costs of conflict, ultimately focusing on the psychological damage done to those in war's path. A memorable if disconcerting debut. [See Prepub Alert, 4/4/11.]—Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, North Andover, MA