In a town where survival is a daily battle, there are those who seek justice...
Overnight, Seka Torlak’s life as a regular teenager is upended as Srebrenica, her once peaceful town, falls under siege and she faces starvation, shelling, and sniper attacks. When desperately needed antibiotics and food disappear and are sold on the black market, Seka vows to investigate the corruption and bring the culprits to justice. As the war ravages Srebrenica, Seka's resilience is tested as she navigates loss, fear, and the harsh realities of war. Yet, amidst the devastation, she finds a glimmer of hope as her relationship with Ramo blossoms from friendship to love. But as she fights for justice and love, will Seka triumph, or will the brutal war tear everything she holds dear apart? Please be aware that trigger warnings could contain spoilers and so I have included them on my themes page For publicity information please view Time Kneels Between Mountains Media Kit below Bonus content-only available to newsletter subscribers
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Historical Research notes
Fragments of History: The Essays Behind the Stories delves into the hidden truths and haunting legacies of Srebrenica, unpacking the complex layers behind one of Europe’s darkest modern tragedies. Drawing on deep research and personal insight, these essays explore the roots of genocide, the urban-rural divide in former Yugoslavia, and the strategic use of Islamophobia to dehumanise Bosniaks. They examine the erasure and resurgence of Muslim identity, the myth of interethnic harmony under Yugoslav socialism, and the role of women—as survivors, protestors, and preservers of memory. With clarity and conviction, this collection reveals the forces that shaped a nation’s trauma and the voices that continue to demand justice.
Historical research notes to support secondary school learning with a resource kit that contains:
Historical research notes to support secondary school learning with a resource kit that contains:
- History of Srebrenica
- Survival in Srebrenica during the siege
- Urban/rural divide
- Intermarriage
- Veiling in Bosnia
- Women in war
- Peacekeepers
- Islamophobia
Reviews
Coming soon
Media Kit
Time Kneels Between Mountains Media Kit
Title: Time Kneels Between Mountains
Pub date: 1 November 2025
ISBN Print: 9781922871534
ISBN Ebook: 9781922871527
Genre: Historical Mystery
Hashtags: #TimeKneelsBetweenMountains #TKBM #SekaTorlakSeries #HistoricalFiction #mysterybooks #mystery #BosnianWar #GenocideAwareness #SrebrenicaStories #ownvoicesbooks
Tagline: In a town where survival is a daily battle, there are those who seek justice...
Short: Srebrenica, 1992, in a town besieged by the enemy, and torn apart by corruption, Seka fights for survival and seeks justice for those who are at the mercy of unscrupulous profiteers.
Medium tagline: Srebrenica, 1992, in a town besieged by the enemy, and torn apart by corruption, Seka fights for survival and seeks justice for those who are at the mercy of unscrupulous profiteers. Yet, amidst the devastation, she finds a glimmer of hope as her relationship with Ramo blossoms from friendship to love. But as she fights for justice and love, will Seka triumph, or will the brutal war tear everything she holds dear apart?
Blurb:
In a town where survival is a daily battle, there are those who seek justice...
Overnight, Seka Torlak’s life as a regular teenager is upended as Srebrenica, her once peaceful town, falls under siege and she faces starvation, shelling, and sniper attacks. When desperately needed antibiotics and food disappear and are sold on the black market, Seka vows to investigate the corruption and bring the culprits to justice.
As the war ravages Srebrenica, Seka's resilience is tested as she navigates loss, fear, and the harsh realities of war. Yet, amidst the devastation, she finds a glimmer of hope as her relationship with Ramo blossoms from friendship to love. But as she fights for justice and love, will Seka triumph, or will the brutal war tear everything she holds dear apart?
Lead In Post
Time Kneels Between Mountains: A Riveting Murder Mystery Illuminating the Forgotten Genocide of Srebrenica
Author Amra Pajalic’s latest novel, Time Kneels Between Mountains, is a masterful blend of historical fiction and murder mystery, bringing to life one of the most devastating and underrepresented chapters in modern history: the Srebrenica genocide.
Set against the backdrop of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War, Time Kneels Between Mountains plunges readers into a small-town mystery brimming with intrigue, betrayal, and forbidden love.
The town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina made history on 11 July 1995, when 8,372 men and boys were slain and buried in mass graves, making it the biggest massacre on European soil since World War II.
The Srebrenica massacre that led to the unanimous ruling the massacre of the enclave's male inhabitants constituted genocide, a crime under international law, in 2004 in the case of Prosecutor v. Krstić in the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY (Prosecutor v. Krstić, Case No. IT-98-33-A, 2004).
As a result, this event is historically significant as it is first genocide conviction in Europe since the Holocaust. It is a globally significant event as it represents the catastrophic failure of the international community to prevent genocide, despite numerous warnings.
Through its historical setting and layered characters, the novel sheds light on the human toll of war while exploring themes of identity, memory, and justice. Srebrenica, an enclave that became the site of genocide during the war, serves as both the setting and the heart of the story.
As a Bosnian author, Pajalic draws on her heritage to craft an own voices narrative that brings authenticity and sensitivity to this harrowing topic. This novel was completed as the creative of component of PhD in Creative Writing thesis examining the role of historical fiction in preserving and interpreting memories of the Bosnian Genocide.
The author has developed teaching resources based on this research with information sheets and essays which are designed to align with secondary school curricula.
Amra says “by broadening the scope to include the Bosnian Genocide, I aim to provide students with a more comprehensive understanding of genocide studies, encouraging critical reflection on global history and human rights.”
In May 2024, The UN General Assembly, in a resolution sponsored by Germany and Rwanda, designated 11 July as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.
In today’s political climate, there is much to learn about the rise of nationalism and discrimination, and the Srebrenica genocide is a lesson we all need to heed.
Excerpt
1-Enemy
May 1992
I threw open the front door and bolted out of the house, excitement at accompanying Mama and Edina as they went to town to make a phone call surging through my veins.
My mother’s scream of terror stopped me dead in my tracks.
“What’s wrong?” I returned to her side.
Mama was clutching the wall, her face white with terror. “You stupid girl!” She shook me by my shoulders. “A sniper will get you.”
Srebrenica was surrounded by mountainous peaks that were a perfect vantage point for snipers. In the time it took them to shoot once, miss, and correct their target, an innocent bystander would only take one step.
“She’ll be fine out the door, it’s halfway down the street that they can sight you,” my father said.
Since the war started, I hadn’t been allowed to leave at all. Babo and Emir went to the black market together to exchange goods for food, while I remained home. My parents used to tell me that the war would be over soon. They had stopped believing that. I could barely contain myself from hurtling out the door again. As if she could feel my restlessness Mama took my hand and we stepped out, her eyes fearfully scanning the hills.
“We have to continue with our lives. We can’t stay in the house and live in fear.” Babo squeezed my mother’s shoulders as he reassured her.
Mama straightened her shoulders. Edina and Ramo followed us. They were refugees to our town, arriving from my grandparents and uncles and aunt when the Chetniks cleansed their village and forced them to evacuate.
Babo and Emir walked ahead of us because we couldn’t all fit on the footpath together, my father and brother matching their long-legged strides to each other, as they were the same height now. Plastic sheets covered holes in roofs, parts of houses were missing sections. I turned to look at our house as we walked. Babo and Emir repaired it between shellings. Even though two of our windows were covered with plastic sheets, and my bedroom window was boarded up as it faced the mountains, it still looked better than most houses on our street. Rubbish filled the street, the smell rancid and rotten in the summer heat.
Closer to town, the buildings were more and more damaged. The sidewalk was pockmarked with large craters from the homemade bombs filled with metal and nails that were dropped from aeroplanes. My excitement faded as terror took over.
“The Chetniks target the centre of town on purpose, so we admire their might.” Emir turned around and held out his hand to encompass the surrounding destruction.
Author Bio:
Amra Pajalic is an award-winning Australian author, educator, and indie publisher known for crafting compelling stories that blend heart, humour, and heritage. Her work explores themes of identity, belonging, and resilience, often drawing from her Bosnian background.
She won the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature's Civic Choice Award for her debut novel The Good Daughter, re-released as Sabiha's Dilemma (Pishukin Press, 2022). The anthology she co-edited, Growing up Muslim in Australia (Allen and Unwin, 2014), was shortlisted for the 2015 Children's Book Council of the year awards and her memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me (Transit Lounge, 2019) was shortlisted for the 2020 National Biography Award.
Amra is committed to accessibility and inclusion in publishing. Through her micro-press, Pishukin Press, she releases her titles in a wide range of formats—including audiobook, large print, dyslexic font, paperback, ebook, and hardback—to ensure all readers can experience her stories.
When she's not writing, Amra is podcasting on Amra’s Armchair Anecdotes, mentoring emerging writers, and delivering workshops across Australia on self-publishing, writing craft, and creative resilience.
Social media handles
Website: http://www.amrapajalic.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amrapajalicauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmraPajalic
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amrapajalic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmraPajalicAuthor/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amra-pajalic
Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3310015.Amra_Pajalic
Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B005C8AIDY
Newsletter sign up (receive a FREE ebook copy of Suicide Watch – Story 1 in The Cuckoo’s Song and young adult novella The Climb) https://www.amrapajalic.com/my-newsletter.html
BUY LINKS:
Pishukin Press:
Universal (Wide Print): https://books2read.com/timekneels
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234963448-time-kneels-between-mountains
Please be aware that trigger warnings could contain spoilers and so I have included them on my themes page
Title: Time Kneels Between Mountains
Pub date: 1 November 2025
ISBN Print: 9781922871534
ISBN Ebook: 9781922871527
Genre: Historical Mystery
Hashtags: #TimeKneelsBetweenMountains #TKBM #SekaTorlakSeries #HistoricalFiction #mysterybooks #mystery #BosnianWar #GenocideAwareness #SrebrenicaStories #ownvoicesbooks
Tagline: In a town where survival is a daily battle, there are those who seek justice...
Short: Srebrenica, 1992, in a town besieged by the enemy, and torn apart by corruption, Seka fights for survival and seeks justice for those who are at the mercy of unscrupulous profiteers.
Medium tagline: Srebrenica, 1992, in a town besieged by the enemy, and torn apart by corruption, Seka fights for survival and seeks justice for those who are at the mercy of unscrupulous profiteers. Yet, amidst the devastation, she finds a glimmer of hope as her relationship with Ramo blossoms from friendship to love. But as she fights for justice and love, will Seka triumph, or will the brutal war tear everything she holds dear apart?
Blurb:
In a town where survival is a daily battle, there are those who seek justice...
Overnight, Seka Torlak’s life as a regular teenager is upended as Srebrenica, her once peaceful town, falls under siege and she faces starvation, shelling, and sniper attacks. When desperately needed antibiotics and food disappear and are sold on the black market, Seka vows to investigate the corruption and bring the culprits to justice.
As the war ravages Srebrenica, Seka's resilience is tested as she navigates loss, fear, and the harsh realities of war. Yet, amidst the devastation, she finds a glimmer of hope as her relationship with Ramo blossoms from friendship to love. But as she fights for justice and love, will Seka triumph, or will the brutal war tear everything she holds dear apart?
Lead In Post
Time Kneels Between Mountains: A Riveting Murder Mystery Illuminating the Forgotten Genocide of Srebrenica
Author Amra Pajalic’s latest novel, Time Kneels Between Mountains, is a masterful blend of historical fiction and murder mystery, bringing to life one of the most devastating and underrepresented chapters in modern history: the Srebrenica genocide.
Set against the backdrop of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War, Time Kneels Between Mountains plunges readers into a small-town mystery brimming with intrigue, betrayal, and forbidden love.
The town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina made history on 11 July 1995, when 8,372 men and boys were slain and buried in mass graves, making it the biggest massacre on European soil since World War II.
The Srebrenica massacre that led to the unanimous ruling the massacre of the enclave's male inhabitants constituted genocide, a crime under international law, in 2004 in the case of Prosecutor v. Krstić in the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY (Prosecutor v. Krstić, Case No. IT-98-33-A, 2004).
As a result, this event is historically significant as it is first genocide conviction in Europe since the Holocaust. It is a globally significant event as it represents the catastrophic failure of the international community to prevent genocide, despite numerous warnings.
Through its historical setting and layered characters, the novel sheds light on the human toll of war while exploring themes of identity, memory, and justice. Srebrenica, an enclave that became the site of genocide during the war, serves as both the setting and the heart of the story.
As a Bosnian author, Pajalic draws on her heritage to craft an own voices narrative that brings authenticity and sensitivity to this harrowing topic. This novel was completed as the creative of component of PhD in Creative Writing thesis examining the role of historical fiction in preserving and interpreting memories of the Bosnian Genocide.
The author has developed teaching resources based on this research with information sheets and essays which are designed to align with secondary school curricula.
Amra says “by broadening the scope to include the Bosnian Genocide, I aim to provide students with a more comprehensive understanding of genocide studies, encouraging critical reflection on global history and human rights.”
In May 2024, The UN General Assembly, in a resolution sponsored by Germany and Rwanda, designated 11 July as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.
In today’s political climate, there is much to learn about the rise of nationalism and discrimination, and the Srebrenica genocide is a lesson we all need to heed.
Excerpt
1-Enemy
May 1992
I threw open the front door and bolted out of the house, excitement at accompanying Mama and Edina as they went to town to make a phone call surging through my veins.
My mother’s scream of terror stopped me dead in my tracks.
“What’s wrong?” I returned to her side.
Mama was clutching the wall, her face white with terror. “You stupid girl!” She shook me by my shoulders. “A sniper will get you.”
Srebrenica was surrounded by mountainous peaks that were a perfect vantage point for snipers. In the time it took them to shoot once, miss, and correct their target, an innocent bystander would only take one step.
“She’ll be fine out the door, it’s halfway down the street that they can sight you,” my father said.
Since the war started, I hadn’t been allowed to leave at all. Babo and Emir went to the black market together to exchange goods for food, while I remained home. My parents used to tell me that the war would be over soon. They had stopped believing that. I could barely contain myself from hurtling out the door again. As if she could feel my restlessness Mama took my hand and we stepped out, her eyes fearfully scanning the hills.
“We have to continue with our lives. We can’t stay in the house and live in fear.” Babo squeezed my mother’s shoulders as he reassured her.
Mama straightened her shoulders. Edina and Ramo followed us. They were refugees to our town, arriving from my grandparents and uncles and aunt when the Chetniks cleansed their village and forced them to evacuate.
Babo and Emir walked ahead of us because we couldn’t all fit on the footpath together, my father and brother matching their long-legged strides to each other, as they were the same height now. Plastic sheets covered holes in roofs, parts of houses were missing sections. I turned to look at our house as we walked. Babo and Emir repaired it between shellings. Even though two of our windows were covered with plastic sheets, and my bedroom window was boarded up as it faced the mountains, it still looked better than most houses on our street. Rubbish filled the street, the smell rancid and rotten in the summer heat.
Closer to town, the buildings were more and more damaged. The sidewalk was pockmarked with large craters from the homemade bombs filled with metal and nails that were dropped from aeroplanes. My excitement faded as terror took over.
“The Chetniks target the centre of town on purpose, so we admire their might.” Emir turned around and held out his hand to encompass the surrounding destruction.
Author Bio:
Amra Pajalic is an award-winning Australian author, educator, and indie publisher known for crafting compelling stories that blend heart, humour, and heritage. Her work explores themes of identity, belonging, and resilience, often drawing from her Bosnian background.
She won the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature's Civic Choice Award for her debut novel The Good Daughter, re-released as Sabiha's Dilemma (Pishukin Press, 2022). The anthology she co-edited, Growing up Muslim in Australia (Allen and Unwin, 2014), was shortlisted for the 2015 Children's Book Council of the year awards and her memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me (Transit Lounge, 2019) was shortlisted for the 2020 National Biography Award.
Amra is committed to accessibility and inclusion in publishing. Through her micro-press, Pishukin Press, she releases her titles in a wide range of formats—including audiobook, large print, dyslexic font, paperback, ebook, and hardback—to ensure all readers can experience her stories.
When she's not writing, Amra is podcasting on Amra’s Armchair Anecdotes, mentoring emerging writers, and delivering workshops across Australia on self-publishing, writing craft, and creative resilience.
Social media handles
Website: http://www.amrapajalic.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amrapajalicauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmraPajalic
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amrapajalic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmraPajalicAuthor/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amra-pajalic
Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3310015.Amra_Pajalic
Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B005C8AIDY
Newsletter sign up (receive a FREE ebook copy of Suicide Watch – Story 1 in The Cuckoo’s Song and young adult novella The Climb) https://www.amrapajalic.com/my-newsletter.html
BUY LINKS:
Pishukin Press:
Universal (Wide Print): https://books2read.com/timekneels
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234963448-time-kneels-between-mountains
Please be aware that trigger warnings could contain spoilers and so I have included them on my themes page
All Formats
ISBN |
Format |
Metric |
Imperial |
AUD |
USD |
Pages |
Date |
9781922871527 |
Ebook |
Value |
$4.99 |
$3.99 |
01/11/25 |
||
9781922871534 |
Paperback |
12.7 cm x 20.33 |
5 x 8 |
29.99 |
19.99 |
Value |
01/11/25 |
Value |
Hardcover |
13.97 cm x 21.59 |
5.5 x 8.5 |
34.99 |
24.99 |
320 |
01/11/25 |
Value |
Dyslexic edition |
22.9 x 15.24 |
6 x 9 |
29.99 |
19.99 |
Value |
01/11/25 |
Value |
Large Print |
22.86 x 15.24 |
6 x 9 |
49.99 |
39.99 |
Value |
01/11/25 |
Value |
Audio |
19.99 |
11.99 |
Value |
Value |
||
Value |
Audio AI |
4.99 |
3.99 |
|
Dyslexic Format Edition—printed in Dyslexic Open font in 14 point.
Large Print edition—printed in Large Print Open Sans No Italics font in 18 point font size.
Audiobooks AI—narrated by artificial intelligence using Google technology.
Audiobooks—narrated by performance narrators are also in process.
All books are also available in ebook, paperback and hardcover editions.
Large Print edition—printed in Large Print Open Sans No Italics font in 18 point font size.
Audiobooks AI—narrated by artificial intelligence using Google technology.
Audiobooks—narrated by performance narrators are also in process.
All books are also available in ebook, paperback and hardcover editions.
Questions and answers
What inspired you to write Time Kneels Between Mountains?
I first started writing a crime mystery novel for my PhD and delved into the history of Srebrenica to create a backstory for my character. Soon I was immersed in research and realised that the backstory, was the story.
I was struck by the horror of the war, but also the forgotten story of what life was like for the residents while living under siege, and the ingenuity and desire for survival.
And so Time Kneels Between Mountains came to be a war novel, and the first book in my Seka Torlak mystery series. It begins in 1992 when my character Seka is 15 years old, and covers the four years of the siege, and the massacre of Srebrenica, and ends with her as a 19 year old.
I was struck by the horror of the war, but also the forgotten story of what life was like for the residents while living under siege, and the ingenuity and desire for survival.
And so Time Kneels Between Mountains came to be a war novel, and the first book in my Seka Torlak mystery series. It begins in 1992 when my character Seka is 15 years old, and covers the four years of the siege, and the massacre of Srebrenica, and ends with her as a 19 year old.
Is the character of Seka Torlak based on a real person?
Seka Torlak is a character that I created in order to bring to life the story of Srebrenica. Seka is a composite—a fictional creation grounded in the experiences of many survivors, journalists, and ordinary people whose lives were shattered by war. While she’s not based on one person, her resilience, anger, and refusal to forget are drawn from the women who kept fighting for justice after the genocide. Seka is also a reflection of the questions I’ve grappled with as the child of migrants from former Yugoslavia.
Is your family from Srebrenica?
No, my mother's side of the family came from a town called Bosanska Gradiška and they too were forced to leave as Serbs invaded. The town no longer exists and is now a part of Republika Srpska, just like Srebrenica is.
How did you balance fact and fiction when writing about real historical events?
The novel is deeply inspired and formed by research drawn from first person recounts of living in Srebrenica, however all of the characters are fictional. The best way to describe this novel is that it's like the Titanic. Everything that's happening in the background of the plot is real, but the crime mystery plot and the characters that move it forward are all fictional.
What was the most difficult scene to write—and why?
The most difficult scene to write was a recreation of a scene from the killing fields where men and boys were slaughtered and buried into mass graves. Writing these scenes really brought forward the horror of this massacre and the brutality that was enacted in order to claim Srebrenica.
What themes or questions do you hope readers reflect on after reading this book?
I hope readers wrestle with the ethics of memory: Who gets to tell history? What happens when justice is denied? And how do individuals carry generational grief while trying to live in the present? This book is also about the strength of women, the limits of forgiveness, and the cost of truth.
Why did you choose the title Time Kneels Between Mountains?
The title of the book comes from dialogue between two characters within the book as they grapple with the sense of abandonment that the enclave felt during the siege. There is the sense that time knelt and forgot to get up and continue, and so they were frozen in time and place, never able to move on because they were besieged by the enemy.
What do you want readers to know about Srebrenica who might not be familiar with it?
Srebrenica was declared a UN "safe area" and yet in July 1995, 8,372 Bosniak men and boys were systematically murdered. It was the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II—and still, many deny it happened. This book exists to bear witness, to challenge that denial, and to ensure that even through fiction, the truth is not forgotten.
Will there be more books featuring Seka Torlak?
Yes, Time Kneels Between Mountains is the first in the series. There is a prequel, The Tree That Stood Still, mostly because my PhD wordcount was too long which is about her friendship with her Serb friend Zora before the siege of Srebrenica. In book 2, Seka will be in Australia as a new migrant and confronted with a war criminal who tormented her family while they were in Potočari. In book 3, she will be her investigating a cold case of a Vietnam Vet, and I'm drafting book 4 as I speak. Each book also has special bonus content of short stories that are only available to my newsletter subscribers.
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