From Red Earth

February 18, 2019
In this poignant memoir, Uwimana describes her extraordinary experience of survival during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, during which 800,000 Tutsi were slaughtered by their Hutu neighbors in 100 days. Hiding in terror under her bed, she heard: “We will exterminate every last cockroach, no matter where they hide!” But Uwimana was one of the lucky ones; her husband was killed, but she and her three children weren’t found. She wonders: “ How could ordinary people veer from a normal life—looking for work, studying at college, or earning a living—to butchering others?... I can only answer that demons from hell were unleashed like seething lava over our land.” The bulk of the book recounts her efforts to rebuild her life, to learn to forgive her enemies, and to help other women struggling to reconcile in the aftermath. Hers was very much a spiritual journey; she believed God was directing her to help both Tutsi and Hutu “become human again.” Remarried and living in Germany, the author continues to work for healing in Rwanda through her charity Iriba Shalom International. As Uwimana focuses on her own story, this account is mesmerizing on a human level, but is unfortunately short on historical context that would better explain the genocide for readers less familiar with it. Readers interested in faith-based perspectives will be particularly drawn to this tale of survival and redemption.

April 1, 2019
In this piercing, devastating, and often horrifying memoir, Rwandan genocide survivor Uwimana recounts in painful detail the bloody tragedy of her country. A survivor who draws deeply on her Christian faith, Uwimana tells a story that is almost impossible to believe. As her murderous countrymen hunted her Tutsi family and friends, she entrusted her two young sons to a trusted Hutu ally and then climbed into a neighbor's crawlspace, where she gave birth at the height of the rampage. Through the kindness of others and no small amount of luck, she and her three children were able to escape with other women and their children and obtain safety at their former place of employment. From this tragic recounting, she moves forward to explain how forgiveness has become crucial in her life and the lives of others. Uwimana is certain that without her faith in God she could not survive what she witnessed or the weight of her losses, including her beloved husband. Gut-wrenching but undeniably compelling, this is a powerful look at Rwanda, then and now.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)