Tender Flesh Next to Bone

Outside the gates, a political revolution unfolds. Within, a young girl fractures.

Raised on a Presbyterian mission field in Ethiopia, the six Kurtz children largely fended for themselves in jungles and boarding schools and grew up contemptuous of “ordinary Americans.” The youngest, Jan, revels in a childhood rich with adventure, fervor, beri beri spice, and lush, often dangerous landscapes. But as Jan enters puberty, Mengistu’s Marxist junta rips Addis Ababa apart with the violent Red Terror, while in Jan's private world, a teacher’s sexual exploitation leaves her shamed and secretive, isolating her from her older siblings and quixotic, preoccupied parents. The family’s expulsion from their adopted homeland further unmoors Jan with culture shock until she learns to heal and thrive in a culture she was brought up to disdain.

This evocative coming-of-age memoir explores the lives of "mish kids," and the enduring disorientation that comes from growing up wedged between worlds—between God and warlords, lofty ideals and hidden predators. Lyrical, haunting, and honest, Tender Flesh Next to Bone is a deeply personal account of one of the most turbulent periods of Ethiopia's history—but at its heart, it is a young woman's reckoning: with faith, with community, and most importantly, with herself.