A riveting story of dislocation survival and the power of stories to break or save usWhen
Clemantine Wamariya was six years old her world was torn apart. She didn't know why her
parents began talking in whispers or why her neighbours started disappearing or why she could
hear distant thunder even when the skies were clear.As the Rwandan civil war raged Clemantine
and her sister Claire were forced to flee their home. They ran for hours then walked for days
not towards anything just away. they sought refuge where they could find it and escaped when
refuge became imprisonment. Together they experienced the best and the worst of humanity.
After spending six years seeking refuge in eight different countries Clemantine and Claire
were granted refugee status in America and began a new journey.Honest life-affirming and
searingly profound this is the story of a girl's struggle to remake her life and create new
stories - without forgetting the old ones.____________________________________'Extraordinary
and heartrending. Wamariya is as fiercely talented as she is courageous' JUNOT DIAZ author of
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'Brilliant ... has captivated me for a couple of years'
SELMA BLAIR
