Poet and novelist Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse was only 15 when the genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda took place. At that age, many girls from around the world are enjoying their teenage years and all the excitement that comes with. Beata though was fighting for survival, witnessing the brutal killing of people close to her.
30 years after, with a successful life she built in France, she returns to sources and testimonies aimed at recovering those tragic moments. Convoy, translated from French by academic and translator Ruth Diver, is a dramatic yet necessary account of her experiences and eyewitnesses who were lucky enough to escape.
The Convoy is a true story of inhuman reality, a haunting proof of humanity at its lowest. However, it is so important to share such tragedies with the world, in order to keep the memory of those murdered alive, but also to make people aware of what happens when the rest of the world just watch indifferently.
This is a book very important for any study of genocide in the 20th century, particularly to the case of Rwanda. A recommended read for journalists and historians, but also but anyone who wants to find out more about the Rwandan genocide and deadly conflicts in general.
This is a book that will haunt me for a very long time.
The Convoy is published in English by Open Borders Press, an imprint of Orenda Books.
Rating: 5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
No comments:
Post a Comment