Running the Rift - Softcover

"An auspicious debut . . . Having worked extensively with genocide survivor groups in Rwanda, Benaron clearly acquired a very lucid sense of her characters' lives and of the horrors they endured. Her story tells, with compelling clarity, of Rwandan Tutsi youth, Jean Patrick Nkuba--who dreams of becoming Rwanda's first Olympic medalist. It's a dream he must postpone for more than a decade as the internecine savagery, Hutu vs. Tutsi, slaughters millions and derails the lives of countless others. While it would be counterintuitive to pronounce this a winning, feel-good story, there is something to be said for hope restored. And Naomi Benaron's characters say it well."--The Daily Beast "In a finely crafted story of dreams, illusions, hard reality, and reaching the other side of fear, Benaron has bestowed upon the world a story that illuminates events on a national scale by showing their effects at the personal level."--ForeWord Reviews "Benaron accomplishes the improbable feat of wringing

Jean Patrick Nkuba dreams of becoming the first Rwandan to run in the Olympics. But Jean Patrick is a Tutsi and his kind are not supposed to win. When the president's assassination plummets the country into sudden and bloody chaos - Hutu against Tutsi, neighbour against neighbour - Jean Patrick is left without protection and without any choice. Now he must run: from his home, from his family, from the woman he loves. Finding them again will be the race of his life. Evoking the raw beauty of Rwanda and the tragedy of its recent past, Running the Rift is a truly stunning novel of a people's trauma, of lives lost, and of loves salvaged.