Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur (Random House Reader's Circle)

ISBN: 0345510461

Author: Bashir, Halima

Condition: New

[Halima Bashirs] mesmerizing tale of against-all-odds endurance is a piercing lament-and a clear-eyed call to action.-VogueThis memoir helps keep the Darfur tragedy open as a wound not yet healed.-Elie Wiesel, author of NightBorn into the Zaghawa tribe in the Sudanese desert, Halima Bashir received a good education away from her rural surroundings (thanks to her doting, politically astute father) and at twenty-four became her villages first formal doctor. Yet not even Bashirs degree could protect her from the encroaching conflict that would consume her homeland. Janjaweed Arab militias savagely assaulted the Zaghawa, often with the backing of the Sudanese military. Then, in early 2004, the Janjaweed attacked Bashirs village and surrounding areas, raping forty-two schoolgirls and their teachers. Bashir, who treated the traumatized victims, some as young as eight years old, could no longer remain quiet. But breaking her silence ignited a horrifying turn of events.Raw and riveting, Tears of the Desert is the first memoir ever written by a woman caught up in the war in Darfur. It is a survivors tale of a conflicted country, a resilient people, and an uncompromising spirit.Praise for Tears of the DesertThis is a brave book. And a valuable one. Halimas story of the atrocities and immeasurable losses she has endured must be told.-Mia Farrow, actor and advocateVivid, poignant and brutally candid . . . Tears of the Desert is that rarest of literary endeavors, not just a book you read but a book you experience.-The Washington Post Book WorldAn extraordinary memoir . . . Halima Bashirs bravery contrasts with the worlds fecklessness and failures.-Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York TimesSearing . . . Tears of the Desert gives voice to the unspeakable.-USA TodayPowerful, harrowing and brave.-The EconomistA luminous tale of growing up in rural Darfur . . . a wonderful and moving African memoir.-The New York Review of Books