Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You

Just this afternoon during my lunch break I finished Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen (translated from the German by Elizabeth D. Crawford) --I knew for certain that I must post about it quickly as it is such a stunning, important book to recommend to you all. Jansen bases the novel on the real life experiences of her adopted daughter, Jeanne, who lost her home and entire family within the span of a few days during the Rwandan genocide when she was just eight years old. It is included in our Young Adult collection, but I think it should also be a part of the adult selection so as to increase its chances of people getting their hands on it. I first heard of it while looking for titles to update our human rights book lists and while the thought of reading about a young Tutsi girl who survived the Rwandan genocide seemed somewhat daunting and something that I knew I'd have to emotionally/mentally prepare for, I also felt that I needed to read this book. And what a rich, deep read it turned out to be --so worth it! Jansen begins each chapter with a journal-like entry addressed to Jeanne, documenting her thoughts and experiences in writing the book that we now read. We learn how much the author relies on her daughter for support in her writing, getting wonderful, little glimpses as to what Jeanne's life is now like with her new family in Germany. What this does, in fact, is reassure the reader that Jeanne will be okay, that she survives, she lives, and she finds love and trust again after having every reason to turn herself away from such things forever. It makes reading about this horrifc experience bearable, even beautiful. Jeanne is the ultimate testament to the human will to live.