War is often portrayed as a masculine activity, leaving women out of the narrative of combat even when they are present on the battlefield. Ethiopian novelist Maaza Mengiste (Beneath the Lion's Gaze) tells a different story in her second novel, The Shadow King. Inspired by Mengiste's great-grandmother, who sued her father for his gun so she could enlist as a soldier, The Shadow King recounts the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia and the making of several unlikely female warriors.
As Ethiopia and its emperor, Haile Selassie, brace for battle, a girl named Hirut is adjusting to her new role as a servant. When her master, Kidane, begins rallying the local men to build a ragtag army, he commandeers the rifle that belonged to Hirut's father. This incident, which Hirut sees as a theft and Kidane sees as simply his right, sets the stage for much of their future interactions.
Under the leadership of Kidane's wife, Aster, the women follow their men, agitating for the chance to fight alongside them. They eventually enter a stalemate with an Italian military unit, whose members include Ettore Navarra, a Jewish photographer. After Hirut notices that one of the men in their group resembles the exiled emperor, Kidane dresses the man in fine clothes to create the titular "Shadow King": a beloved icon who helps galvanize his warriors. Hirut is deputized as his guard, and her path crosses with Ettore's in several unusual ways.
Mengiste's narrative shifts between several third-person perspectives--Hirut, Aster, Kidane, Ettore--along with periodic glimpses of the exiled emperor and a village elder-like "chorus." Each viewpoint helps underscore the high personal costs of war. The Shadow King exposes a brutal chapter in Ethiopia's history and urges readers to listen for the untold stories of war, especially those of women. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams