Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda

What a well-written book! It reads like the memoir that it is, and memoirs require special storytelling skills when they cover an entire 50 years. And this is what the book does--covers 50 years of the author's life and Rwandan history. The way the author describes her friendship with Dian Fossey, her marriage to Kenneth, the people she met and shared her home and land with, and the circumstances of ethnic strife in Rwanda are incredibly touching and fascinating. The author moved to Rwanda in the waning years of colonialism. At first, it appeared like this unique lifestyle of privilege the colonialists lead will last for a very long time--yet it seemed to vanish overnight. Most of the author's friends were killed or lost everything when the Congo (now Zaire) and Rwanda made their transitions to independence. From there, Rwanda seems to have a bright enough future as the government invests in environmental and educational progress. However, all the while displaced Tutsi refugees were fermenting across the border in Uganda, Burundi, and the Congo. As war and revenge tears apart the progress that's been made since independence, the author struggles to maintain her humanity, home, farm, and physical safety. Like so many people, she lost nearly everything in the genocide that occurred in 1994--many of her workers and friends, all her possessions--even the plumbing was ripped out of the walls of her house. Not to be daunted, she rebounds later that year by remaking her farm into an orphanage. This book was an amazing look at the struggles, triumphs, and tragedies the Rwandan people faced over a span of about 50 years. It helped me understand the transition to independence and the genocide so much better than news reports. The author tells the story in a refreshingly human light--helping imagine what it might have been like.

In order to learn more about Rwanda and its tragic 100 day genocide, I have read: When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda by Mahmood Mamdani We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Romeo A. Dallaire Antecedents To Modern Rwanda: The Nyiginya Kingdom by Jan Vansina The Rwanda Crisis by Gérard Prunier The Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History by Jean-Pierre Chrtien Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community by Linda Melvern In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land by Bill Weber, Amy Vedder Paul Kagame and Rwanda: Power, Genocide and the Rwandan Patriotic Front by Colin M. Waugh Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda by Rosamond Halsey Carr, Ann Howard Halsey All ten books are excellent. Carr and Halsey's book, Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda, is exceptional in that it is based on Carr's experiences in Rwanda since 1949. Her story is told in a clear and interesting manner. Especially to be appreciated is her deep and even handed understanding of all of Rwanda's people: Bahutu, Batutsi, and Batwa. Reviewed by David S. Fick, Author of Africa: Continent of Economic Opportunities, STE Publishers, Johannesburg SA, May 2005, www.ste.co.za

I work in an independent book store. For a year I have been communicating with a Rwandan woman, a Tutsi who survived the genocide and now would like to come to America with her 6 year old daughter to study Social Work. I have been reading as much as I can about Africa, Rwanda in particular. I read Philip Gourevitch's "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: stories from Rwanda," and Julian Pierce's novel "Speak Rwanda." Of course I devoured Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible." Then I noticed this biography "Land of a Thousand Hills, My Life in Rwanda," by Roz Carr. I was totally captivated by this incredible woman and completely taken in by her story of her life in Africa over the past 50 years. Rosamond Halsey Carr went with her husband to live in the Belgian Congo in 1949, 5 years before Barbara Kingsolver's fictitious family. As time went on, even though her marriage did not last, she chose to stay in this part of the world making it her home. She moved to Rwanda when the white settlers were forced out of Zaire in the early 1960's. Not only did she survive, she is still there, at age 88 running an orphanage for children who lost their families during the genocide. This book describes as nothing else has the reality of 20th century life in the Congo and Rwanda from the perspective of an "ordinary" white settler. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

High Praise for whom? Is it Madame (Ros), or Ms. Halsey (Ann), or maybe Sembagare, or Kenneth who sparked the flame, or the multiple thousands of lives touched by Ros and who in turn touched her life? Or all of the above? Truth may not be stranger than fiction but it sure is more interesting. As one who lived and worked in Africa for many years, much of it in the Congo, I just want to say this is a marvelous work of art befitting the subject(s). Kwa heri, Madame. God Bless!

This book is an excellent read. It provides an interesting perspective of the history and culture of Rwanda from the first hand. For those of us who have never been really sure what the Hutu/Tusi conflict was about, this book provides a clear explanation.