Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga

 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, which was very well narrated by Inger Tudor.

Scholastique Mukasonga is a new to me author and was born in Rwanda in 1956. Mukasonga is Tutsi. She and her family were exiled to Burundi. In 1994, 37 of Scholastique Mukasonga's family members were killed in the Rwanda genocide.

Our Lady of the Nile is set in Rwanda primarily at an all girls Catholic high school in a remote area of Rwanda near the Nile River. Rwandan girls are sent to 'Our Lady of the Nile' by their families in order for them to become "the feminine elite of the country and to escape the dangers of the outside world. The book is a prelude to the Rwandan genocide and unfolds behind the closed doors of the school..." 

And what a microcosm Our Lady of the Nile school is of things to come politically in Rwanda!! The story focuses on several of the girls attending Our Lady of the Nile school. These girls come from different backgrounds and ethnicities (Hutu and Tutsi) and we read about their different lives and views (both political and cultural views) of each of the girls. 

Overtime, as things heat up in Rwanda, we find things take a turn for the worse at Our Lady of the Nile school by the end of the novel. Gloriosa, one of the female students and villain of the novel, takes over running the school. Gloriosa's father is a powerful man in Rwanda and she takes on her father's political views. Gloriosa acts entitled due to her father's powerful status in society and acts as though she can't be touched due to her father's power within Rwanda.

There are so many more layers and nuances within Our Lady of the Nile that are touched upon.... like religion and colonialism as well as politics, of course. It gives insight to life in Rwanda leading up to the Rwandan genocide. It's worth the read if you're interested in reading books by a Rwandan writer about her own country.

Below is the publisher's summary for Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, which I found on Chirp's website:

Scholastique Mukasonga drops us into an elite Catholic boarding school for young women perched on the edge of the Nile.

Parents send their daughters to Our Lady of the Nile to be molded into respectable citizens and to escape the dangers of the outside world. Fifteen years prior to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, we watch as these girls try on their parents’ preconceptions and attitudes, transforming the lycée into a microcosm of the country’s mounting racial tensions and violence.

In the midst of the interminable rainy season, everything unfolds behind the closed doors of the school: friendship, curiosity, fear, deceit, prejudice, and persecution.

With masterful prose that is at once subtle and penetrating, Mukasonga captures a society hurtling towards horror.

I'm giving Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!