Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza

As you know I am constantly reading and trying to find books that will be good for our book club. I recently finished up Left to Tell:Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza. A good friend recommended it to me at AEW's birthday party. This is a non-fiction novel about 210 pages of reading and let me just say it was pretty amazing. Here is what the book flap states:

Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Her family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Miraculously, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor's home while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them. It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having truly discovered the meaning of unconditional love-a love so strong that she was able to seek out and forgive her family's killers. The triumphant story of this remarkable woman's journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering and loss. (end quote)


I really enjoyed reading about her story. This was one of those books that is really hard to put down and you feel like you have to keep reading to see what happens. I would definitely recommend it and I actually picked up her second book, Led by Faith, that goes along with it but I'm not done reading it yet. I really want to choose Left to Tell for the book club but there are some parts that are graphic because we are dealing with real truthful history. I am going to read the second book soon to see if it would be better for the club and then it just be an option if people want to go back and read the first book with a warning. If I do go with the second book it won't be till at least September when the paperback version is available for purchase. Here is a link to where you can see an interview of Immaculee from 60 Minutes that is on her website. Scroll down and it is on the bottom left. As always if you decided to read this book, share with us what you thought! Happy Reading!




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