| ISBN | 9789997772565 |
| ePub ISBN | 9789997700988 |
| Pages | 210 |
| Dimensions | 198 x 129mm |
| Published | 2019 |
| Publisher | Huza Press, Rwanda |
| Formats | Paperback, eBook |
Not My Time to Die
by Yolande Mukagasana
Yolande Mukagasana is a Rwandan nurse and mother of three children who likes wearing jeans and designer glasses. She runs her own clinic in Nyamirambo and is planning a party for her wedding anniversary. But when genocide starts everything changes. Targeted because she’s a successful woman and a Tutsi, she flees for her life.
This gripping memoir describes the betrayal of friends and help that comes from surprising places. Quick-witted and courageous, Yolande never loses hope she will find her children alive.
Reviews
"This book was one of the first literary testimonies that I read in French about Rwanda. I found it profoundly moving — both realistic and introspective. Thanks to this beautiful translation, it is at long last available to the English-speaking public."
"Reading Yolande Mukagasana’s book in French at the age of fifteen changed my life. I realized that genocide is not a mass crime but a single murder repeated hundreds of thousands of times. With this testimony the genocide is no longer just a historical event, it is instead the story of a woman, a mother, a Tutsi. And this is what makes Yolande’s account universal."
"Reading Not My Time to Die was an unsettling experience. I both loved and hated following Yolande in her excruciatingly long journey to safety in this beautifully written memoir. As someone who knew too little about the genocide against the Tutsi, reading it made me want to understand how such an abhorrent event could ever come about. This text is an intense, but exceptional, introduction to the history of the genocide, and I would recommend it to everyone. The 2019 English translation is skillfully executed and finally gives the English-speaking world access to Yolande Mukagasana’s memoir, originally published in French more than two decades ago."