The Far Away People

Growing Up in Modern European War, War Diary from Bosnia

By: Amela Sijaric

Narrated by: Anne Charlotte

This is a raw and sincere play-by-play account of life as a teenager in war-torn Bosnia from 1992-1996. It is based on a child's diary. The beginning gives you snippets of a typical innocent childhood in pre-war Sarajevo. The book then progresses to years of her family's fight to survive and endure, all the while providing us with the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of a typical teenage girl caught in the middle of it all.

©2022 Amela Sijaric (P)2023 Amela Sijaric

Thank you, Amela!

Thank you, Amela, for having the courage to relive this traumatic part of your life to educate us. I am a Bosnian diaspora and my mother came as a refugee as well as my wife’s family. Listening to your story has helped me develop a stronger understanding of what it was like to live through that.

This book goes into great detail about what life was like in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, during the war. Sijarić goes into her personal experiences which is similar to what most people may have felt in Sarajevo at the time. The loss of loved ones, fear and helplessness are clearly expressed and is impactful.

The book itself had a few parts that seemed to be unintentionally repetative, possibly due to editing. It should have also been made clear that Željko Ražnatović, known as Arkan, was not actually killed during the war like Sijarić writes. However, I understand that she was just recalling that she had heard that news over the radio at the time. The reader’s voice complimented Sijarić’s writing, bringing more emotion to it. However, her mispronounciation of Bosnian words and locations is difficult to understand even for somebody familiar with the area.