Published in 2011 by W. W. Norton & Company, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze – Maaza Mengiste’s debut novel – is about the Ethiopian revolution which begun in 1974, during the last days of Emperor Haile Selassie’s long rule. At the time, Haile Selassie’s government had lost public confidence following a famine in Wello province. The story begins as a young man lies on the operating table with a bullet in his back. He is a student protestor, among the many that are involved in the uprising to throw Selassie out of power.
