The first half of this book is a description of how society completely falls apart at the onset of war and how people, including close friends and family, turn on each other, not necessarily to save their own skins, but in a frenzy of nationalistic pride, some of which was never expressed before. It's a scary picture of the damage caused by a war, and, although difficult to read, is recommended. The second part is the main character's search for her oldest son on the frontlines of the war. Not as gut wrenching as the first part, it is still an interesting look at the events of that particular war. The author fled Bosnia for Sweden with her two sons in 1992 and this is her first novel, written in her adopted language, which she uses to its full advantage - it's in no way obvious this was by someone writing in a second language. ( )

Visar vad kriget gör med mäniskorna, hur joguslaver förvandlas till kroater, serber och muslimer. Hur vänner till och med familjemedlemmar blir fiender och krigar på varsin sida om fronten. Boken beskriver en stark kvinna som har allt söner, älskare, man och krog. När kriget trots allt kommer splittras familjen, kvinnan hjälper sina söner att fly och återvänder själv tillbaks till hemstaden Doboj. Mot alla odds lyckas hon under stora umbäranden överleva i staden men när hon får höra att den äldste sonen gått med i kriget tar hon sig till fronten för att rädda honom. ( )