Set in the midst of the Second Liberian Civil War, Danai Gurira’s Eclipsed tells the story of the captive wives of a Commanding Officer in the rebel army. A young woman simply referred to as “The Girl” has recently been abducted by the C.O., and two of his older wives do what they can to help and care for her in the dilapidated, one-bedroom shack the women share. Just as The Girl begins to adjust to life at the compound, the entire community is thrown off balance when a fourth wife returns from the battlefield, after having escaped the army camp to fight as soldier in the resistance. Struck by the realization that she may not have to resign herself to the grim reality of life in the army compound, The Girl must choose whether to stay with the women who have done so much for her, or to take charge of her own destiny and fight for freedom. With deep emotional strength, brutal honesty, and a surprising amount of humor, the women of Eclipsed fight to do something truly extraordinary: survive.
Eclipsed guide sections