Our Lady of the Nile: A Novel Paperback – September 16, 2014 by Scholastique Mukasonga (Author), Melanie Mauthner (Translator) (Archipelago)

I try really hard to keep up with what happens in the world, but sometimes it is difficult to understand what happens in a foreign county, a foreign culture and the horrific devastation of the genocide that occurred in Rwanda is no exception. Sure, I remember the news and yes I saw the movie Hotel Rwanda, but still it is just so difficult to comprehend. I wanted to read this book because I thought it would shed further light for me on happened there.

This is a small book that carries the seeds of the horrors yet to be in Rwanda. The story takes place at an elite, all girls’ boarding school . We can see through the daily lives of the girls in this school , the Hutus looking down on the Tutsi girls , the politics in and outside of the school . It's about organized religion , a black Madonna , an abusive priest , the native beliefs and superstitions and a witch doctor , a Tutsi girl elevated in the eyes of her family and neighbors because she was among the elite girls getting an education , and the beginnings of the horrific events.

I have to admit that I did not understand some of what happened in this story but then how can we possibly understand what ultimately happened in the Rwanda Genocide .Perhaps that is what the author is trying to impart , just a little understanding of the horror that occurred there . She succeeds in doing so.

I'm sometimes a little bit leery of reading a book that has been translated because sometimes the language just doesn't flow in English as it might have in the original language . That is not the case with this book which was originally published in French on 2012 and won several literary prizes. I would recommend this.

Thanks to Steerforth Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story .