" W]hat is true of Rwanda is true in each of us; we all share inAfrica." -- L'Harmattan

" This novel] comes closer thanhave many political scientists or historians to trying to understand why this smallcountry... sank in such appalling violence." -- Radio FranceInternational

In April of 1994, nearly a million Rwandans werekilled in what would prove to be one of the swiftest, most terrifying killing spreesof the 20th century. In Murambi, The Book of Bones, Boubacar Boris Diop comes faceto face with the chilling horror and overwhelming sadness of the tragedy. Now, thepower of Diop's acclaimed novel is available to English-speaking readers throughFiona Mc Laughlin's crisp translation. The novel recounts the story of a Rwandanhistory teacher, Cornelius Uvimana, who was living and working in Djibouti at thetime of the massacre. He returns to Rwanda to try to comprehend the death of hisfamily and to write a play about the events that took place there. As the novelunfolds, Cornelius begins to understand that it is only our humanity that will saveus, and that as a writer, he must bear witness to the atrocities of thegenocide.

From the novel: "If only by the way people arewalking, you can see that tension is mounting by the minute. I can feel it almostphysically. Everyone is running or at least hurrying about. I meet more and morepassersby who seem to be walking around in circles. There seems to be another lightin their eyes. I think of the fathers who have to face the anguished eyes of theirchildren and who can't tell them anything. For them, the country has become animmense trap in the space of just a few hours. Death is on the prowl. They can'teven dream of defending themselves. Everything has been meticulously prepared for along time: the administration, the army, and the militia] are going to combineforces to kill, if possible, every last one of them."

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