{"product_id":"ethiopia-under-my-skin-a-narrative-paperback","title":"Ethiopia Under my Skin, a narrative - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDominique Magada\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn \u003cstrong\u003eaccount of Ethiopia \u003c\/strong\u003ethrough the eyes of a \u003cstrong\u003ewriter-journalist \u003c\/strong\u003ewho sees her \u003cstrong\u003ecareer flounder\u003c\/strong\u003e when she moves to \u003cstrong\u003eAddis Ababa\u003c\/strong\u003e with her family. In response, she throws herself into the immense \u003cstrong\u003eartistic and cultural wealth of the country.\u003c\/strong\u003e She meets artists, designers, gallerists, women entrepreneurs, architects, musicians and dancers who \u003cstrong\u003ebecome protagonists\u003c\/strong\u003e of her book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe author \u003cstrong\u003elived in Addis from 2011 to 2015, \u003c\/strong\u003e a time of massive transformation and a \u003cstrong\u003ewindow of hope for the future \u003c\/strong\u003eof the country. She has since returned several times and r\u003cstrong\u003eecounts the changes through a double narration\u003c\/strong\u003e in the present and in the past. In over a decade, she saw \u003cstrong\u003ethe city being razed to the ground\u003c\/strong\u003e and built anew using Dubai as a model and without much care for the architectural heritage or the social fabric. She \u003cstrong\u003erecords the places of cultural and historical significance in Addis \u003c\/strong\u003ewhich have now disappeared, along with a way of life centred around the community, Through snippets of daily life, the book tells the \u003cstrong\u003estory of a change of century \u003c\/strong\u003eand gives \u003cstrong\u003ea voice to the people who are usually silenced\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a rare account of \u003cstrong\u003elife abroad without the credentials\u003c\/strong\u003e, she opens up to her \u003cstrong\u003emarriage\u003c\/strong\u003e and explain how her \u003cstrong\u003eloss of professional and social identity created unresolved conflict i\u003c\/strong\u003en her couple, with one unable to understand the position and struggle of the other, and her feeling that she got \u003cstrong\u003ethe raw end of the deal when moving\u003c\/strong\u003e. She gives a detailed account of her \u003cstrong\u003edifficulties raising uprooted children\u003c\/strong\u003e in a country where she had no cultural references, friendship and family support to help her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs an escape, she\u003cstrong\u003e travelled extensively, dragging her family to the four corners of the country \u003c\/strong\u003eincluding to \u003cstrong\u003eplaces out of reach now\u003c\/strong\u003e, which she recounts in the travelogue part of the book. Along the way, she learnt about \u003cstrong\u003eShashemene and the Rastafari community \u003c\/strong\u003ewho moved to Ethiopia in the 1960s on emperor Haile Selassié's invitation; \u003cstrong\u003eGondar, \u003c\/strong\u003ethe first sedentary capital of Abyssinia and the birth of \u003cstrong\u003eAzmari music\u003c\/strong\u003e; \u003cstrong\u003eLake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile \u003c\/strong\u003eclaimed to be discovered by Scottish Traveller James Bruce; \u003cstrong\u003eHarar and the poet Rimbaud \u003c\/strong\u003ewho lived his last years there and befriended Haile Selassié's father Ras Makonnen; \u003cstrong\u003eDire Dawa and the train line \u003c\/strong\u003ebuilt by the French to link Addis to Djibouti; \u003cstrong\u003eTigray and the birth \u003c\/strong\u003eof Orthodox Christianity; \u003cstrong\u003eSidamo and the coffee growing \u003c\/strong\u003earea; Arba Minch and the last of the wild zebras; the \u003cstrong\u003eOmo Valley with tribes\u003c\/strong\u003e who wear lip plates and practice scarification; and the \u003cstrong\u003efamous town of Lalibela\u003c\/strong\u003e with its rock-hewn churches that was built by King Lalibela as the new Jerusalem to prevent an assault of the kind of Saladin on the Holy City. Through her journey, she explores \u003cstrong\u003ethemes of displacement, social identity, cultural heritage and motherhood in the global age, \u003c\/strong\u003e while witnessing the end of an old world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 350\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.78 x 8.25 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 29, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67972567662899,"sku":"9791298677609","price":27.52,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/gOOjrvdzyM9791298677609.webp?v=1794430400","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/ethiopia-under-my-skin-a-narrative-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}