Lorraine Adams, The New York Times Book Review "In Mengiste's hands what was a confusing time...becomes accessible and clear. An important novel, rich in compassion for its anguished characters."

The New Yorker "Mengiste's social intelligence and historical research allow her to write compassionately about emotions denatured by brutal regime or calcified by conviction. But the real marvel of this tender novel is its coiled plotting, in which coincidence manages to evoke the colossal emotional toll of the revolution."

Claire Messud, Bookforum "all but un-put-downable...Beneath the Lion's Gaze is an extraordinary novel, which tells stories that nobody can want to hear, in such a way that we cannot stop listening." Read the rest of Claire Messud's Bookforum review.

 		 
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New York Magazine "Beneath the Lion's Gaze melds personal detail and...history in the manner of The Last King of Scotland and The Kite Runner, but it's Mengiste's lush yet economical writing that really sets it apart."

Christian Science Monitor "Intelligent and moving, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze provides a window into a complex and ancient country. "

Bookmunch "This is both a novel and a history lesson...Mengiste writes tenderly and beautifully of a family caught up in this upheaval." Read the rest of the Bookmunch review.

Publisher's Weekly (starred review) "Mengiste is as adept at crafting emotionally delicate moments as she is deft at portraying the tense and grim historical material, while her judicious sprinkling of lyricism imbues this novel with a vivid atmosphere that is distinct without becoming overpowering. That the novel subjects the reader to the same feelings of hopelessness and despair that its characters grapple with is a grand testament to Mengiste's talent."

 		 
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Beneath the Lion's Gaze makes VOGUE magazine's Top 10 Books to read in 2010, calling it an "incandescent debut".  
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Library Journal "This book is stunning...graphic descriptions and masterly prose."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "A bold literary debut...Mengiste gracefully builds the story to a heart-pumping conclusion."

Dr. Ghelawdewos Arias of AfricanIdea.org "...Vibrant and sophisticated. In reading the book...I was compelled to revisit the seemingly endless nightmares that engulfed Ethiopia during the Derg rule."

Kirkus Reviews "An arresting, powerful novel that works on both personal and political levels."

 Gabriel Abraham of Abesha.com "A great novel that should not be qualified as 'first'...a book that demands to be read in a single sitting."

USAToday "Powerful, painful and wildly ambitious."
 
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ADVANCE PRAISE FOR BENEATH THE LION'S GAZE:

"With words that make a faint, tender bruise on the page, and a compassionate imagination that transforms everything it touches on, Maaza Mengiste delivers an important story from a part of Africa too long silent in the World Republic of Letters." Chris Abani, author of GraceLand and The Virgin of Flames

"What a beautiful book! After a few chapters I felt I was a member of this family, a citizen of Ethiopia. Maaza Mengiste is talented and bold and fresh. Already, I'm looking forward to her next book." Uwem Akpan, author of Say You're One of Them (Oprah's Book Club)

"Literature from the margins is often too poorly lit for us to see, but Mengiste takes us through this dark political hunt with the night vision of a lion. A novel both tender and brutal, fearless, it is accomplished beyond a first book." Dagoberto Gilb, author of The Magic of Blood and The Flowers

 		 
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