Speak Rwanda — Julian R. Pierce

SPEAK RWANDA marks the arrival of one of the most mesmerizing and unforgettable novels of the year. It is the story of ten people - Hutu and Tutsi, civilians and soldiers, mothers, nurses, politicians, herdsmen, and orphaned children - as they attempt to survive one of the most violent and deeply disturbing massacres since the Second World War. It is the story of the Land of a Thousand Hills, an area of lush beauty where tribespeople called to one another from forested mountaintops, but also a land where a complex system of class codes, discontent, and political unrest lurked beneath the surface.

Through the heartwrenching voices of these ordinary people, we come to see how humans can be driven to commit or tolerate genocide, and finally how the survivors may come to live with such an experience. From the villages to the ravaged cities to the plagued humanitarian camps, SPEAK RWANDA opens a window to a world that few of us fully understand.