The following version of the book was used to create this guide: Mengiste, Maaza. The Shadow King. W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 2019.

Maaza Mengiste's novel The Shadow King tells the story of the female Abyssinian warriors, whose involvement in the Ethiopian battles against their Italian invaders, were omitted from historical documentation. The novel begins in 1974, 40 years after the war has ended. Hirut, a former soldier, waits at the Addis Ababa train station with a box of Ettore Navarra's photographs. Holding the box, she hears the voices of the dead calling out to her. As she opens the box and looks through the horrifying images it contains, the narrative shifts back to 1935, and depicts the defining battles of the Ethiopian and Italian conflict.

As a young orphaned woman, Hirut's life is defined by her duty to her masters, Kidane and Aster. She believes Kidane's former affection for her late mother will guarantee her safety and protection. However, Aster grows jealous of Kidane's obvious interest in Hirut, and begins abusing her in any way possible. She blames Hirut when her necklace goes missing. While searching for the pendant, Aster uncovers Hirut's rifle, a gift from her father. When Kidane sees the gun, he seizes it, insisting his men need as many weapons as possible before the Italians invade. Distressed by the theft of her rifle, Hirut begins stealing innumerable valuables from Kidane and Aster's home. When Aster discovers the loot, she abuses and punishes Hirut. These dynamics shift dramatically when the Abyssinians learn that the Italians have arrived in the Port of Massawa.

Immediately, Kidane gathers his men and begins preparations for battle. At the same time, Aster becomes determined to join the fight herself. She mobilizes dozens of women and encourages them to meet Kidane and his men on the battlegrounds. Kidane reluctantly agrees to allow their participation. Meanwhile, the emperor, Haile Selassi hides himself away in his chambers. His failure to stop the Italian invasion overwhelms him. This sense of impending doom compounded with his continued grief over the recent death of his young daughter, Zenebwork, cause the emperor to begin unravelling.

On the outskirts of Debark, Kidane and his men set up camp. Their opponent, Carlo Fucelli, establishes his own camp not far away. While the Abyssinians succeed in ambushing the Italians during their first encounter, the Italians quickly massacre the Ethiopians using gas and tanks. Word of the slaughter disturbs Haile Selassi so greatly that he begins communing with the ghost of Zenebwork and the hallucinations of the Aida characters, specters who convince him to abandon his people and flee to Bath.

On the battle lines, Fucelli and Kidane's armies lie in wait of one another. Fucelli begins building a prison for Abyssinian captives, and designs a series of disturbing deaths for them, all of which he demands his photographer, Ettore, capture on film. Ettore's involvement with Fucelli grows increasingly complicated. He feels he must remain loyal to the man, or risk his expulsion and murder by Mussolini's men. As a Jew, he is in constant fear of his life. However, Fucelli's orders compromise Ettore's morals, and call him to question the entirety of his identity.

Meanwhile, in Kidane's camp, Hirut notices that one soldier, Minim, looks uncannily like Haile Selassi. Together, Hirut and Kidane begin crafting Minim into their Shadow King, a twin double of their emperor who will mobilize and encourage their troops. Hirut then appoints herself as the Shadow King's protector. Together they train and craft themselves into fierce soldiers. during their work, Hirut decides she will kill Kidane as soon as she gets the chance, as a means of avenging all his abuses against her and her family.

During another battle with the Italians, Fucelli and his men capture Aster and Hirut. When the women refuse to reveal the location of Kidane's camp, the soldiers strip, taunt, and rape the women. Fucelli holds them in his prison endlessly, forcing Ettore to photograph them. He distributes the photos to his men, one of which reaches Kidane. Kidane and his men wait for the opportune time to attack and destroy Fucelli. One night they sneak into the camp and release the women.

Shortly thereafter, they ambush Fucelli's men, killing him. Kidane is also killed in battle.

Forty years after the war, Ettore remains in Addis Ababa, having taken his father's advice and stayed in Africa in order to protect himself from Mussolini. Through one of Kidane's former soldiers, Ettore gets word to Hirut, asking her to meet him with his box of photographs. When Ettore arrives at the station, he begs for Hirut's forgiveness. Hirut ignores his pleas, and demands he leave her country and never return.