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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Mean Girls, Madonnas and Queens of Rwanda
Review of the Daunt Books (UK) paperback edition (March 2021) reprinted from the earlier Archipelago Books (USA) edition (2014) as translated by [a:Melanie Mauthner|21104901|Melanie Mauthner|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] from the French language original [b:Notre-Dame du Nil|15834420|Notre-Dame du Nil|Scholastique Mukasonga|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352989702l/15834420._SX50_.jpg|21571335] (March 2012)
Poster for the French language film adaptation of "Our Lady of the Nile" (2020) by dir. Atiq Rahimi.
It is 1973* in Rwanda, and events in the Our Lady of the Nile elite girls' school are a microcosm of the tensions between the now post-Rwandan Revolution-ruling Hutu tribal majority and the previous monarchy-based ruling Tutsi tribal minority. The school's senior class Hutu faction is led by head 'mean girl' Gloriosa with her acolytes and her main targets are the quota-based minority of Tutsi, esp. Veronica and Virginia, two girls also in the senior class.
Author Mukasonga structures her tale in what can seem to be a series of short stories, each of them themed around a single girl or a single event. These provide a gradual entry into the world of the elite school where the future leaders in the upper classes are receiving their education in the confines of a sheltered world which is still controlled by the former Belgian and French colonialist whites.
This seems at first an innocent world of girls coming of age and pilgrimages to the school's namesake statue, a black Madonna in the hillside jungle. It is rapidly revealed as having much darker underpinnings, incl. abuse at the hands of the school's priest Father Herménégilde, an obsessive local French artist Monsieur de Fontenaille with fantasies of the past ruling African queens going back to the time of the Egyptians, the underage marriage of girls to foreign dignitaries and an ever-tightening circle of bullying and persecution which is rapidly closing in on Veronica and Virginia.
This was a masterful novel which drew on the author's own background from when she was targeted by her school's Hutu classmates before escaping to Burundi in 1973 and finally to France where she has written memoirs, short stories and this, her first novel. See more on Scholastique Mukasonga's background at a 2020 interview at the White Review.
I read Our Lady of the Nile due to it being longlisted for the 2022 Republic of Consciousness Prize. The shortlist is to be announced March 26, 2022. The winner is expected to be announced April/May 2022. I am a supporter of the prize through the Republic of Consciousness Book of the Month (BotM) club. Subscriptions to the BotM support the annual Republic of Consciousness Prize for small independent publishers.
Trivia and Links
Our Lady of the Nile was adapted as the same titled French language film Notre-Dame de Nil (2020) by director Atiq Rahimi, and an English subtitled trailer can be viewed on YouTube here.
The information page for the earlier 2014 English language edition from Archipelago Books has a considerable number of related interview and article links which you can see here (see under Extras).
The book has an unnamed off-the-page character described as "the white woman who wants to save gorillas" who is presumably based on the real-life primatologist Dian Fossey.
History and Links
* The Daunt Books synopsis incorrectly states that the book takes place "15 years before the 1994 genocide", when it should say '21 years before'.
Some of the historical background to the Hutu and Tutsi conflict in Rwanda is referenced in Our Lady of the Nile and can be understood in context.
For further reading on the history prior to the book's timeframe see the Wikipedia entry for the Rwandan Revolution (1959-61).
For further reading on the history concurrent to the book's timeframe see the Wikipedia entry for the Rwandan coup d'état (1973).
For further reading on the history after the book's timeframe see the Wikipedia entries for the Rwandan Civil War (1990-94) and the Rwandan Genocide (1994).
Review of the Daunt Books (UK) paperback edition (March 2021) reprinted from the earlier Archipelago Books (USA) edition (2014) as translated by [a:Melanie Mauthner|21104901|Melanie Mauthner|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] from the French language original [b:Notre-Dame du Nil|15834420|Notre-Dame du Nil|Scholastique Mukasonga|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352989702l/15834420._SX50_.jpg|21571335] (March 2012)
Poster for the French language film adaptation of "Our Lady of the Nile" (2020) by dir. Atiq Rahimi.
It is 1973* in Rwanda, and events in the Our Lady of the Nile elite girls' school are a microcosm of the tensions between the now post-Rwandan Revolution-ruling Hutu tribal majority and the previous monarchy-based ruling Tutsi tribal minority. The school's senior class Hutu faction is led by head 'mean girl' Gloriosa with her acolytes and her main targets are the quota-based minority of Tutsi, esp. Veronica and Virginia, two girls also in the senior class.
Author Mukasonga structures her tale in what can seem to be a series of short stories, each of them themed around a single girl or a single event. These provide a gradual entry into the world of the elite school where the future leaders in the upper classes are receiving their education in the confines of a sheltered world which is still controlled by the former Belgian and French colonialist whites.
This seems at first an innocent world of girls coming of age and pilgrimages to the school's namesake statue, a black Madonna in the hillside jungle. It is rapidly revealed as having much darker underpinnings, incl. abuse at the hands of the school's priest Father Herménégilde, an obsessive local French artist Monsieur de Fontenaille with fantasies of the past ruling African queens going back to the time of the Egyptians, the underage marriage of girls to foreign dignitaries and an ever-tightening circle of bullying and persecution which is rapidly closing in on Veronica and Virginia.
This was a masterful novel which drew on the author's own background from when she was targeted by her school's Hutu classmates before escaping to Burundi in 1973 and finally to France where she has written memoirs, short stories and this, her first novel. See more on Scholastique Mukasonga's background at a 2020 interview at the White Review.
I read Our Lady of the Nile due to it being longlisted for the 2022 Republic of Consciousness Prize. The shortlist is to be announced March 26, 2022. The winner is expected to be announced April/May 2022. I am a supporter of the prize through the Republic of Consciousness Book of the Month (BotM) club. Subscriptions to the BotM support the annual Republic of Consciousness Prize for small independent publishers.
Trivia and Links
Our Lady of the Nile was adapted as the same titled French language film Notre-Dame de Nil (2020) by director Atiq Rahimi, and an English subtitled trailer can be viewed on YouTube here.
The information page for the earlier 2014 English language edition from Archipelago Books has a considerable number of related interview and article links which you can see here (see under Extras).
The book has an unnamed off-the-page character described as "the white woman who wants to save gorillas" who is presumably based on the real-life primatologist Dian Fossey.
History and Links
* The Daunt Books synopsis incorrectly states that the book takes place "15 years before the 1994 genocide", when it should say '21 years before'.
Some of the historical background to the Hutu and Tutsi conflict in Rwanda is referenced in Our Lady of the Nile and can be understood in context.
For further reading on the history prior to the book's timeframe see the Wikipedia entry for the Rwandan Revolution (1959-61).
For further reading on the history concurrent to the book's timeframe see the Wikipedia entry for the Rwandan coup d'état (1973).
For further reading on the history after the book's timeframe see the Wikipedia entries for the Rwandan Civil War (1990-94) and the Rwandan Genocide (1994).
There's a kind of easy, almost superficial feel to the prose and narrative of this book, which makes the looming horror and constant social tension in the background bearable. Mukasonga mixes tradition with modernity, native culture with colonialism, and creates a complex friction between fact and belief. Set in an all girls' school, Rwanda's Hutu/Tutsi conflict slowly plays out among teen students coming of age. A subtle feminist thread highlights the limited gender roles and misogynist practices at work during the '70s while comical aspects both undermine and magnify what we as readers know eventually becomes genocide beyond the timing of this novel. An enjoyable and thought-provoking read thanks to Melanie L. Mauthner's translation.
"Rwanda is the land of Death. You remember what they used to tell us in catechism: God roams the world, all day long, but every evening He returns home to Rwanda. Well, while God was traveling, Death took his place, and when He returned, She slammed the door in his face. Death established her reign over our poor Rwanda. She has a plan: she’s determined to see it through to the end."
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
You know from the get go that things will likely not end well within this story, given its roots in history. Every chapter feels like another milestone on the road to something very bad yet unavoidable. And then it all happens and its just how you thought it would be but even worse and it still isn't even as bad it is going to get. For a brief period of time you are granted a look into the precocious lives of these girls, coming of age in a unique situation, time and political climate, and you see them place just as much value on make up as a witch doctors spell. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in women's stories, especially those grounded in real events.
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Read as part of BookRiot's Read Harder 2021 Challenge.
This book required me to do a decent bit of research to help me understand the relationships between different ethnic groups. That's one of my goals this year, read books that challenge me to expand my worldview.
A great read, gives an interesting perspective on Rwanda in the 1970s.
This book required me to do a decent bit of research to help me understand the relationships between different ethnic groups. That's one of my goals this year, read books that challenge me to expand my worldview.
A great read, gives an interesting perspective on Rwanda in the 1970s.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Last month I read ‘Our Lady of the Nile’ by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Melanie Mauthner.
I had a lot of mixed feelings after finishing this book. It’s incredibly powerful, tackling significant and real topics about the sociopolitical climate leading up to the Rwandan genocide, all seen through the lives of teenage girls whose harmful and dangerous viewpoints are shaped by their society and their boarding school environment. For almost the whole of the final third, I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, so be prepared for an intense read as events reach their climax.
The book reads partly like a collection of stories, which threw me initially, but ultimately complements the overarching plot and allows for deeper exploration of the themes.
A note of caution: There are a number of triggers to consider, all are listed in my StoryGraph review. There is also one description of a fat woman that felt fatphobic to me. This may be due to the translation, but it’s worth bearing in mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, War
Minor: Body shaming