Though a self-proclaimed trivia buff, I couldn’t put my finger on the name of the war that Sara Novic details in her debut novel, “Girl at War.” I knew that the Balkans are a place with lovely beaches and fascinating culture, and when I really thought about it, I could recall that, yes, there was some sort of conflict, maybe in the 90s.
The Croatian War of Independence, nameless to me before a quick internet dive, occurred from ‘91-’95. Though this conflict is the central event of the book, Novic’s novel is certainly not just about awareness, centering instead on loss, memory, and even love.
Ana is roughly 10 when the novel opens: “The war in Zagreb began over a pack of cigarettes.” She has two loving parents and a baby sister, Rahela, who is mysteriously sick. Being a tomboy, Ana’s favorite pastime is running through the streets playing pick-up games with her best friend, Luca. As the war starts to tiptoe into Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, people begin to see frequent air raids, and a refugee camp in the center of town disrupts one of Ana and Luca’s games. For Ana especially, these details become increasingly grim as the war escalates; an unforeseeable, shattering event occurs concludes the first section of the novel and haunting the remainder of the book.
Novic attempts – and succeeds – in representing the war on both intimate and expansive levels. She details with gravity and painful eloquence the story of Ana, whom we meet later in the novel as a 20-year-old college student living in New York City.Through Ana’s experiences and recollections, she also shows the reader the gripping details of this particular war: the land mines, the sudden divisions among those who were once neighbors, the lack of adequate medical care.
“There’s no such thing as a child soldier in Croatia,” Ana says, discussing her experiences and what she knows of the war before the United Nations. “There is only a child with a gun.”
Ana, who ends up safely in the United States with adopted parents from Philadelphia, struggles to deal with her memories of the war. As a college student, Ana hides her identity, withholding details from the even the people closest to her. Even though she tries desperately to leave what happened in the past, Ana is scarred with her Croat identity and her memories, both of the war and the people she left behind.
Novic’s prose is eloquent but fitting for such a brutal story. The writing moves quickly, jumping between times and places, leaving the reader always a little unsure about what exactly is happening. This writing style helps to portray just how ruthless this war was, especially for a young girl so deeply entrenched in it. Ana’s story, and the story of the Croatian War of Independence, is one that needs to be told – and retold.
“Girl at War” is a necessary exploration not only of this particular conflict, but also of the ways in which all war and conflict haunts the people it leaves as survivors.
