The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival

This memoir follows Amra Sabic-El-Rayess as a Bosnian teenager in Bihać during the early-1990s war among Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats. Early in the conflict, she finds a small calico cat, Maci, who becomes a good-luck talisman. As a secular Muslim, Amra and her family face ethnic cleansing, displacement, fear of starvation, and threats to their safety. The account also follows her efforts to continue her education, a young romance, the family’s return home, and their search for a way to survive.