Scholastique Mukasonga’s tender paean to motherhood and community (originally published in French in 2008 and seamlessly translated by Jordan Stump) explores how exile robs people of their traditions and identity.
Born in Rwanda in 1956, Mukasonga experienced early on the ethnic conflict that has scarred her country. In 1960, her Tutsi family was exiled to the “dry, dusty plain of the Bugesera”, close to the Burundi border. They left behind their beloved mountains and the cows they had once proudly herded, forced to scrape together a living from growing sorghum, beans and vegetables.
