The God Who Begat a Jackal

In The Got Who Begat a Jackal, the seventeenth-century feudal system, vassal uprisings, religious mythology, and the Crusades are beautifully intertwined with the intense love affair between Aster, the daughter of a feudal lord, and Guru, the court jester and family slave. Aster and Guru’s relationship is the ultimate taboo, but supernatural elements galore presage a destiny more powerful than the rule of man.

With Mezlekia’s enchanting storytelling and ironic humour, readers glimpse African deities who have long since weathered away and the social cleavages that have endured through time.

”A love story, a historical document, an anthropological exploration of the power of myth, and a warning by example of what might await a world that ignores the foreshadowing of religious war.” Poets and Writers Magazine (cover story)

“Mezlekia takes the elements of the simplest of fairy stories—forbidden love, an heiress, and storytelling slave—and embroiders them lushly.” – The New York Times Book Review

“Mezlekia transports readers to eighteenth-century Ethiopia, then called Abyssinia, where he unfolds a fable-like romance… Rich storytelling instincts and sparkling prose.” – The Washington Post Book World