When the girl hears the sound of Hesa Fredrik, she throws herself into the bushes

Segen Meles' debut novel, "The Father," offers a poignant exploration of war's enduring impact on individuals and families. The book is dedicated to Dawit Isaak, the Eritrean-Swedish journalist who has been imprisoned for over a quarter-century, making him the longest-detained journalist globally.

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But he who, like me, sought after his father knew at least approximately what he was going to set sail towards and, moreover, had only one body to search for, while I am searching for a soul.

The novel centers on a traumatized father, who at sixteen joined the Marxist ELF guerrilla movement fighting for Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia. His daughter, Harinett, the narrator, struggles to understand her father, whom she likens to an Odysseus unable to find his way home. She contemplates her own role as a Telemachus, searching for a soul rather than a physical destination.

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Is your child a war child? No, says dad.

Meles weaves together past and present, moving between training camps near Asmara and care facilities in Västerort, spanning from 1961 to the present. The narrative suggests that even away from conflict, the war's presence lingers. The daughter grapples with her identity as a "war child," questioning whether she could have avoided a brutal assault if she had adhered to the "laws of war and father" to remain constantly vigilant.

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I am powerless before the life I have been given.

"I am powerless before the life I have been given," the daughter states, reflecting the profound sense of helplessness that permeates the story. The novel delves into the psychological scars left by conflict, portraying a mind where "nothing is as it should be, and if it is, it jumps around in time." The story highlights the difficulty of escaping the shadow of war, even in peacetime, and the complex relationship between a daughter and her war-scarred father.

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If I now try to paint a picture of what my brain looks like, then nothing is as it should be, and if it is, it jumps around in time.