Thoughts at the half way stage of Strength in What Remains

For the first half of this book you are gripped by what you believe to be a well researched by fictional account of a man's journey from the slaughter of the Rwandan civil war to carve out a life in America.

Against the odds Deo, who's story is told by going back and forth in time, manages to escape the Hutu attempts to massacre the Tutsis people and gets to New York. There through a string of friendships he manages to get the support he needs to escape sleeping rough in Central Park and get back into education.

The chapyers that deal with the moment when the attacks started are harrowing and the images that are described, corpses floating down the river and families slaughered in the woods, stick in your mind.

But Deo, who is essentially an honest and giving person, survives and is able to rebuild his life because of the support of others who recognise his qualities.

But as you move into the second half of the book you realise this is not fiction but a well written retelling of a real story.

The second hald looks like Kidder will bring the story up-to-date.

Review will follow soon...