"In the middle of war, Edemariam remembers soldiers so spooked that they fire rounds of machine-gun bullets into the heart of a tornado. Her grandmother shoves her and her cousin into the wardrobe. They sat crouched "among soft white dresses that smelled of incense and woodsmoke and limes"; her grandmother stood outside, sheltering them from all that passed. It is one startling, unforgettable story among an abundance of riches."