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crankylibrarian 's review for:
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After
by Clemantine Wamariya
Very affecting story contrasting the despair, terror and drudgery of wandering through refugee camps with the brittle security of life in the US, where survival depends on fulfilling American fantasies of the plucky survivor:
I know I have been given a chore: Please assume this identity: Oprah’s special genocide survivor, long lost daughter made good. In that narrative, that brilliant fairy tale, I was the clever child who induced the fairy godmother to bring her parents back to life. I was to fill that slot on the show and in viewers’ minds. The title “The Oprah girl: came with a dramatic story line, a happy ending and a glamorous costume.
While there is no fairy tale ending, Wamiariya and her remarkable sister Claire manage to make a life for themselves in their own terms.
I know I have been given a chore: Please assume this identity: Oprah’s special genocide survivor, long lost daughter made good. In that narrative, that brilliant fairy tale, I was the clever child who induced the fairy godmother to bring her parents back to life. I was to fill that slot on the show and in viewers’ minds. The title “The Oprah girl: came with a dramatic story line, a happy ending and a glamorous costume.
While there is no fairy tale ending, Wamiariya and her remarkable sister Claire manage to make a life for themselves in their own terms.