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vanessamsiemens 's review for:
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After
by Clemantine Wamariya
A poignant memoir of a girl who survives the Rwandan massacre and her years of survival as a refugee travelling to various countries that are impacted and destroyed by war. After a number of years she immigrates to the US with her sister’s family but must face the aftermath and trauma of what she has walked through.
It is difficult to give a review of someone’s story, but I appreciate the rawness and beauty of Clementine’s journey and how she depicts it from a child’s perspective, alternating it with her perspective as an adult woman making sense of the atrocities she has seen and experienced in her life.
Having been born and raised in Canada, i have the perspective of a white privileged woman and yet reading Clementine’s story helps expand my worldview and understanding of those around me and what stories they might hold. I appreciated the empathy created within me as I read a story very different from my own and yet I feel connected to it as I feel connected to humanity and realize these are stories I need to hear more.
Beautifully written- there is a mix of devastation and hope throughout the book fueled by an amazing drive to survival. I am reminded of and amazed at the resilience of the human spirit to persevere and survive in the bleakest of circumstances.
Thank you Clementine for sharing your story with us.
It is difficult to give a review of someone’s story, but I appreciate the rawness and beauty of Clementine’s journey and how she depicts it from a child’s perspective, alternating it with her perspective as an adult woman making sense of the atrocities she has seen and experienced in her life.
Having been born and raised in Canada, i have the perspective of a white privileged woman and yet reading Clementine’s story helps expand my worldview and understanding of those around me and what stories they might hold. I appreciated the empathy created within me as I read a story very different from my own and yet I feel connected to it as I feel connected to humanity and realize these are stories I need to hear more.
Beautifully written- there is a mix of devastation and hope throughout the book fueled by an amazing drive to survival. I am reminded of and amazed at the resilience of the human spirit to persevere and survive in the bleakest of circumstances.
Thank you Clementine for sharing your story with us.