Time and Tide in Sarajevo

Shortlisted for The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize 2023

Evelyn is teaching English in Sarajevo, a beautiful city still recovering decades after the long and brutal siege. Life in the city is tenuous yet welcoming, and she is surrounded by the best friends she’s ever had. Dedicated to her work preparing high-schoolers for a scholarship that could change the course of their lives, Evelyn feels more herself than at home in Australia.

But when the teenage son of a local hero is stabbed and it seems a cover-up will let the killer go free, Sarajevans turn out in force for protests that threaten to boil over into unrest.

When Evelyn discovers evidence that could ignite the volatile situation and dash the ambitions of her students, she faces an impossible decision. What is her responsibility as an outsider to a city and its people that she has come to love?

Gripping and heartfelt, Time and Tide in Sarajevo asks: how do we find hope in a world that feels beyond repair?