Finished it on a flight to Kiev today, cried myself silly while the passengers around me, thankfully, slept.
Sweetness in the Belly is a very emotional read set in Ethiopia before the civil war starts. There are a few intense scenes of female genital mutilation, depictions of PTSD, depression, alienation and loss. At the same time it is very humane, and well written.
I don’t read this type of books usually, and when I do there is one thing that puts me off - I start taking it as an educational read, like the author shows me the scenes that don’t make it into Western media and tries to shock me into action.