The 1998-1999 civil war in Guinea-Bissau sent Embaló into an identity crisis,[1] which she explores in her first novel, Tiara, which was published in 1999.[6][7] The first novel to be published by a Bissau-Guinean woman, Tiara deals with the fallout of colonialism in a fictionalized African country.[4] It was published by the Instituto Camões in Mozambique.[6][3]