White Hyena
by Fra von Massow

Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle

In her powerful debut, White Hyena, Fra brings us a deeply moving story set in the northern highlands of Ethiopia and Addis Ababa during the turbulent 1980s.

This book will pick you up, swirl you round and immerse you in the Ethiopia of the 1980s. With its Eskista beats, coffee ceremonies, friendships and laughter, its mountains and fireside encounters, its loudspeakers in markets and fruit and veg stalls in Piazza.

Based on real-life experiences, these are the intertwining stories of Ashebir and Izzie. A boy growing up in the northern highlands and a young English woman finding her feet on the streets of Addis Ababa. As the worlds they each know fall away, both must embark on a search for who they really are. It is a story of the pain of loss and the power of hope. The deep rupture of separation and the healing of reunion.

At the heart of the story is Zewdie, Ashebir’s mother, a rural tradeswoman and firewood carrier whose strength and spirit resonate throughout the novel. Fra’s dedication to her, highlights the sacrifices and resilience of women in Ethiopia.

All royalties earned from sales of the novel are being donated to Mesgana Child and Family Development Association, a small Ethiopian NGO working with rural women and their children.

Testimonials

A collage of Ethiopia written with personal & political knowledge, depth and love.

–Audrey

It reads like watching a film.

–Bedilu

The story is alive, colourful and real!

–Asegid

A wonderful book, deeply touching, intelligent and truly heartwarming.

–Donata

This book is more than a story and more than history. It’s a time capsule, it’s oral history transcribed, not merely empirical data of times and dates and not merely fanciful fantasy, rather a beautiful synergy of the best of both. Fra’s artistic use of the written word captures the emotions of the characters in the context of the historical narrative they lived within, it depicts the scent of the air and the socio-political climate that was blowing on the winds.

–Kibir La Amlak

An Amazon Book Review

This is a true story recounted as a wonderful novel. It follows in excruciating detail the path to survival of a young boy living through the famine in Ethiopia in the early 1980s and the personal story of the author who played her own small but crucial part in that survival. The two threads are beautifully interwoven, culminating in an unexpected denouement that brings closure to the characters and to the reader.

The granularity of this beautifully written story, liberally sprinkled with details of everyday life and local language, gives a perspective to famine that brings the big numbers of journalists and television reports to shocking life. It is gripping and horrifying without ever becoming maudlin. Ironically, the novel ends in 1997, just a couple of years before yet another famine was to hit Ethiopia. This is a 'must read' for anyone who has even a passing interest in Ethiopia.

– Michael Wales