| “Trying Times” is a historical novel about two girls during the Fascist Italy invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. In 1935 a day before the army under the Emperor engaged with the Italian army in the Battle at Maichew, a historical meeting chaired by the Emperor passed a resolution. According to this resolution some Generals were ordered to "defect" to the Italians but should assist those who would continue the patriotic war. Most army commanders were assigned to continue the patriotic war based in rural areas while the Emperor leave to the League of Nations. The Battle of Maichew was fought in the next day. This unique strategy frustrated the Fascist Italy invasion and in two years time led Italy to financial debacle. "Trying Times" tells the story of the patriotic war around the two ladies who joined the patriotic army after the death of a father and an uncle with poison gas in an earlier battle in Tembein. |