Book Review: Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza

I have another great book club book to share with you. It has a bit of violence. It is about living through a massacre, after all, but it's inspiring. It's a true, life-changing book like The Hiding Place.

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Book Review by me, Emily

The subtitle of this book says it all...Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. While the unthinkable is happening all around her, Immaculee Ilibagiza finds peace in God's love.

Immaculee grew up in a Rwandan paradise. It wasn't until she was ten, that she even learned the words Hutu and Tutsi. When her teacher began taking ethnic roll call, she didn't know which tribe she belonged to. However, prejudices deepened into hatred, and when Immaculee was 24, a massive genocide took place. It is estimated that a million Tutsis were killed in three months.

Immaculee hid in a bathroom with six other women. The space was so small, that they had to take turns standing. When someone needed to use the toilet, everyone had to shift to accomodate her. The ladies nearly starved to death. Worse still, they could her the killers outside looking for them, chanting horrible death songs.

Immaculee spent nearly all her time praying in that bathroom. The women couldn't talk to one another because they might be heard, so Immaculee talked to God, who spared their lives because of her prayers.

Each time it seemed that Immaculee's life would end or that there was no way to go on, she prayed "show me" how to do this, and God would literally show her what to do.

I was touched by this story. I think it will make a wonderful book to discuss in my book club.