The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Morris, Priscilla. Black Butterflies. Duckworth Books, 2022.

Black Butterflies is a work of literary fiction written by Priscilla Morris. It is set just before and during the Siege of Sarajevo. The main character is a woman named Zora who lives with her mother and her husband, Franjo. Zora’s mother is ill and is staying with her daughter and Franjo. She plans to return to her flat soon, but Zora learns that a family has taken over the flat because they believed it was uninhabited, and all uninhabited flats have become available legally for anyone who wants to claim them. Zora brings her mother to prove to the people in the flat that the woman is alive, and the people leave. Zora’s mother’s health deteriorates, and since Franjo can more easily leave, he decides to take Zora’s mom to England where Zora and Franjo’s daughter, Dubravka, lives with her husband and daughter. They plan to return soon.

Zora is an acclaimed artist, and she continues to paint in her studio and to teach college level art classes. At first, she is excited to have some time by herself. The situation in Sarajevo quickly deteriorates, however. Zora does not want to leave because she wants to see her city through this tough time. Eventually phone service is cut and mail service is stopped, and Zora has no way to contact anyone outside of the city. Zora plans to live off of her freezer food which should last her about six weeks. When electricity is cut, she joins others to barbecue as much of the food as they can.

It is dangerous outside because snipers are everywhere. The people have to run across streets and stay close to buildings to minimize the chance of getting hit by sniper fire. At one point, Zora sees a dead body on the street, but nobody can move the body because of snipers. When a week later it is finally moved to the side, people, including Zora, place wildflowers on the body. Another time as she walks down the street, Zora sees a disembodied hand. She frequently walks home with Mirsad, a man in her building who owns a bookstore. Eventually the building that houses both Zora’s studio with all her artwork and the library is destroyed. She continues to teach whenever she can. For a while, the UN brings food to the people, and it is distributed from Mirsad’s building. Zora helps the people distribute the food. When the UN can no longer safely get food in, the people become even more weak and hungry. During the winter, temperatures go down to -20 degrees.

Mirsad and his son, Samir, manage to procure an old fashioned stove, and they install it in Zora’s flat. Mirsad, Samir, Zora, and her friends spend a lot of time in her flat cooking food and keeping warm. At one time, Zora throws an art exhibition to bring people together. They look at her and her student’s art and eat soup in the building illuminated by candles. Zora becomes close with a girl named Una. She starts giving Una art classes to keep her spirits up. One day, however, Samir comes in holding Una’s body. She has shrapnel deep in her brain, and she dies.

Throughout this time, Zora has had to forget her old life and loves in order to psychologically survive. She begins a romantic relationship with Mirsad. The two provide each other with companionship. One day, Zora gets a note saying that her son-in-law will come to take her out of Sarajevo the next day. Zora is very weak and ill by this time, and once she has gotten out of Sarajevo, she is not able to remember all of what happened with Mirsad that night. She knows they discussed her leaving, and when Mirsad went to get firewood from his store, she fell asleep and woke the next morning to Stephen, her son-in-law, coming to get her out. She manages to make it to London with her family. She tries to get in touch with Mirsad, but she never hears from him again.