REVIEW: Our Lady of the Nile (Scholastique Mukasonga)

Book: Our Lady of the Nile

Author: Scholastique Mukasonga

My rating: 4/5.

Premise: Parents send their daughters to Our Lady of the Nile to be moulded into respectable citizens. It is fifteen years prior to the 1994 Rwandan genocide and a quota permits only two Tutsi students for every twenty pupils. In the struggle for power and acceptance, the lycée is transformed into a microcosm of the country’s mounting racial tensions and violence.

[⚠️ CW: racism, genocide, rape, child abuse, violence, colonialism]

While I had a general idea of what happened during the Rwandan genocide, I didn't really know the background and build up. This book takes the racial tension of 1970s Rwanda and translates it into a private school setting, essentially giving us a pressure cooker. The book spans one school year, with most of the book introducing you to each of the main characters and what they get up to. The last 50 pages is where a lot of the "action" happens as tensions finally erupt. While some of the horrors weren't explicitly described, your imagination fills in the gaps. In fact, the last few pages made me want to cry as the fate of one of the girls is revealed. While the book carries the heavy themes, I loved learning about the cultures within Rwanda. It's not a country I know much about so I found it all really interesting. Overall, an informative yet upsetting read.