Sad Anniversary: Two Novels to Mark the 20 Years since the Rwandan Genocide

Some 800,000 people massacred in three months, most by machete-wielding neighbors: that was the horror which began 20 years ago today in Rwanda.  The conflict was ostensibly between ethnic groups, the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi.  But lines were blurred since many moderate Hutus were killed and anyone who has looked closely at the history of the African Great Lakes Region sees that the groups were often related and their differences were used by European powers to divide and conquer.

Gil Courtemanche's Sunday at the Pool in Kigali  tells the story of people caught up in the conflict in an extremely affecting way.  He first went to Rwanda at the beginning of the 1990s to work on a film about AIDS in the region, but decided he must write something about the genocide when it occured.  His first idea was a book of straight reporting, but he was persuaded that novel would convey the tragedy better, and probably reach more people.  The result--first published in French but a winner of several prizes in English translation--was made into a successful film, A Sunday in Kigali, but the novel is much better.  It is painful reading, but well worth the sorrow it might bring.

Like so many others, I was deeply troubled by what happened in Rwanda, and looked around for something I might do to help or understand.  What I discovered quickly was that Rwanda has a twin, Burundi, where the same sort of conflict had been going on for decades.  The year before the outbreak of the Rwandan genocide, a massacre which escaped the attention of the outside world also killed thousands.  After much reflection and quite a lot of library research, I ended up writing a novel about a Canadian politician who goes missing in 1997 in Burundi when on an international fact-finding mission to the  camps set up to shelter refugees.

The Violets of Usambara took eight years to write.  Published in 2008, I did a blog explaining the book's background and the trip I took to East Africa to research the novel.  The trip, funded by a generous grant from the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec, was life-changing for me and, I think, was money well spent by the Quebec government's arts agency.  The novel, I'd like to think also, explores the motivations of people who want to make the world a better place.  They may fail but they are admirable in their attempts

The top photo is of the hotel in Bujumbura where I stayed: the pool was lovely and I couldn't help thinking of it when I read Courtemanche's book. The bottom is the view from my hotel room, with the hills to the East in the background.