Born at the End of the World
A story of what we carry, even when we do not have the language for it.
In the 1970s, as Ethiopia begins to shift under the weight of political upheaval, thirteen-year-old Elen refuses an arranged marriage and leaves behind the only life she has known, setting out toward an uncertain future in Asmara.
Girmai comes of age after he leaves his home, a small Eritrean village, to seek luck and fortune in the streets of Asmara, only to find himself starving and homeless.
Their lives intersect as the Derg regime tightens its control and violence becomes part of everyday life. What begins as a search for stability and belonging gradually becomes something larger, as Elen and Girmai find themselves pulled into a struggle for freedom. Bound by courage and love that defy circumstance, they find themselves deep in a brutal struggle for freedom, where every choice carries the weight of life and death.
Based on a true story, Born at the End of the World is a novel about what we carry with us, and how, even in the most uncertain times, people find ways to endure, to resist, and to create a different future.
Praise for Born at the End of the World
"Merhazion’s remarkable debut, based on a true story, is a heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful novel that juxtaposes a moving love story with the horrors of the Red Terror in Ethiopia during the late 1970s."
"A determined Ethiopian woman enters the fight for Eritrean independence in Donica Merhazion’s riveting historical novel Born at the End of the World… a thrilling historical novel about a woman’s resilience and resistance."
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