About the Book

In a land reeling from famine, poverty, and political upheaval, one determined young man dares to challenge fate.

When a brutal communist regime tightens its grip on a rural Ethiopian community, young Efrem is catapulted into a world of suffering and suppression. As his family struggles under the weight of hunger, silence, and injustice, Efrem refuses to be broken. Driven by a dream to uplift his family and escape the chains of mediocrity, he sets his sights beyond borders—toward a foreign land, a foreign education, and the hope of a future with dignity.

But his path is steep. At home, he leaves behind a widowed mother, a school-dropout sister, and a blossoming love entangled in uncertainty. Abroad, he must navigate an alien culture, institutional prejudice, and the disorienting pull of ambition in a world that rarely makes room for men like him.

A Vulture’s Feather is a haunting literary tale of survival, identity, and spiritual inheritance. Poetic and raw, and deeply rooted in the soil of East Africa, it explores the quiet power of a determined spirit amid oppression, loss, and longing.

For readers who love the stirring prose of Chinua Achebe, the cultural insight of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and the generational complexity of Yaa Gyasi, this is a story that lingers long after the final page.