Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: Only a couple of profanities and swear words. Hateful and violent language such as the Hutu killers chanting “Kill them, kill them all” as they go through the neighborhoods hunting Tutsis. Tutsis referred to as cockroaches by the ruling government as well as the killers. Verbal propaganda.

Violence: The Rwandan Government orders Hutus to kill all of the Tutsis, even the old and the babies. Nearly one million Tutsis are killed within three months. Tutsis seeking refuge in churches and stadiums are massacred. A mother is killed and her baby left to die. Heaps of dead bodies on the streets where dogs eat the rotting corpses. Many are hacked to death with machetes. A woman is raped while her husband and children are forced to watch, then they are all killed. Human limbs are cut off and babies are killed.

Sexual Content: Women are raped, but there are no descriptions of this violence.

Adult Themes: Ethnic cleansing. Long time neighbors and friends turn on each other. The horrors of what humans are capable of doing to each other.

Synopsis

In 1994, 22 year-old Immaculee is home from college to spend the Easter holiday with her family when the death of Rwanda’s Hutu president sets off a massacre of ethnic Tutsis. Over the course of three months, nearly 1 million Tutsis are killed. In order to survive, Imaculee hides in the tiny bathroom of a Hutu pastor along with seven other Tutsi women. Terrified that they will be found and murdered, Imaculee turns to God for protection and comfort. She prays for hours every day and is eventually able to forgive those who are hunting down and killing the Tutsis in her country. Once they are able to leave their hiding place, Imaculee must discover the fate of her family and build an entirely new life.

This is an amazing story of faith. Although there are many descriptions of the atrocities committed, the focus of the book is Imaculee’s personal transformation and what she learns through this horrific experience. Her ability to forgive and move on is inspiring and helped put my own challenges in perspective. I highly recommend this book for adults.

©2009 The Literate Mother