S.: A Novel about the Balkans — Slavenka Drakulic

"S. may very well be one of the strongest books about war you will ever read. . . The writing is taut, precise, and masterful." -- The Philadelphia Enquirer

Set in 1992, during the height of the Bosnian war, S. reveals one of the most horrifying aspects of any war: the rape and torture of civilian women by occupying forces. S. is the story of a Bosnian woman in exile who has just given birth to an unwanted child -- one without a country, a name, a father, or a language. Its birth only reminds her of an even more grueling experience: being repeatedly raped by Serbian soldiers in the "women's room" of a prison camp. Through a series of flashbacks, S. relives the unspeakable crimes she has endured, and in telling her story -- timely, strangely compelling, and ultimately about survival -- depicts the darkest side of human nature during wartime.