Awards

• Short-listed for Magnetic - biennial Ethiopian book prize for all genres 2021
• Short-listed for Magnetic Book Prize 2021

Overview

"""This is a gripping story, well-told."" ___SHEGER FM RADIO 102.1 ""Lucy's People skilfully documents an intimate perspective on an ethically complex time and place.""___Ben Claessens ""Lucy's People: An Ethiopian Memoir"" is the inspiring true story of a country and a life. Young Mesfin is a UN scholarship recipient, breadwinner to a dozen, and an engineer. He is wired to defend the helpless. Under the communist Derg 1974 to 1991, he holds his head high throughout random arrest, torture and forcible military conscription. Related to Emperor Haile Selassie I, Mesfin's parents are models of initiative. His mother and grandmother are patriots that resisted Mussolini's 1935 invasion, and his father is a colonel. As a youthful Airborne lieutenant, Mesfin saves the innocent from military madness. Then, as project engineer for water development and construction, he protects local environments and traditions. Mesfin is steeped in Ethiopian culture, attending the emperor's Jubilee in Palace School. Ethiopia's sun and moon are female, and women walk tall; he defers to them. His Jewish heritage inspires him, as does Abyssinian Engineer Queen Saba (Sheba). Then there is Lucy, the early hominid fossil. Her skeleton has survived intact for 3.2 million years. 'To Ethiopians, she was a symbolic mother. Hers was a story of miraculous survival. So was ours.'"

Full Product Details

9780648828723

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Reviews

These reviews were for the 1st edition. In 13 years, I have not read an Ethiopian book like this one. It is genuine and tells the truth fearlessly. Amazingly, this story has come to us from Australia. For more than 4 centuries, Arabic nations and Europe have frequently been hostile towards Ethiopia. They have proven to be a unique enemy to Lucy's people. This is because they are unforgiving. Today, Europeans, Americans and Middle Easterners attack in many ways. Recently, they have been a huge headache. For example, we have not been left in peace to build a dam on our own Blue Nile River. It starts in the middle of Ethiopia, crosses Sudan and flows to Egypt, yet they oppose our own hydroelectricity and irrigation project for agriculture. The authors of Lucy's People: An Ethiopian Memoir reside in Australia. Because of this, they have a refreshing perspective on the treatment of Ethiopia by outsiders. Wake up world. Read this book. ___ Around the World. Review of Lucy's People: An Ethiopian Memoir, by Mesfin Tadesse & Ianet Bastyan. Justice Magazine, May 1-2, 2020. Translated by Mesfin Tadesse. This is a gripping story, well told. ___ Sheger FM Radio 102.1, April 28, 2020. Translated by Mesfin Tadesse.

Author Information

Mesfin Tadesse is an Ethiopian engineer. How he survived the Communist Derg and served his people through work is an inspiring story. Never would Mesfin or his family compromise mother or country. His mother was Falasha, which is Ethiopian Jewish. From her, he gained unique insights into an ancient culture comprised of geniuses. He shares these in Lucy's People; Ianet Bastyan is an Australian teacher & librarian. Mesfin told her about Ethiopian culture. Ianet said, 'What is it like to live in Ethiopia?' In 2016, they visited, then wrote his inspirational memoir. Ianet's grandfathers were soldiers and farmers. They faced the 1930s Depression. It was nothing compared to survival under the Ethiopian communist Derg 1974-91.

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