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May 31, Carla added it. What a story of love for a land, fearlessness and courage. I knew of some of the issues between tribes at that time but this filled in all the horrible details.
Amazing biography, learned so much about Rwanda and about a strong, brave woman. Feb 25, Amanda rated it it was amazing. One of my favorite books and favorite heroines! Jun 26, Thomas Ryan rated it really liked it. A beautiful book and a great life! Feb 13, Onay rated it really liked it. I leave for Rwanda in less than two weeks. I have read a number of books on the country.
Most of them are about its recent tragic history. Important to read, there is no doubt, but I wanted to go to the country with an open, positive approach. I had to put a rest to those other books as my mood was turning dark. I did find though that I was still picking up books on this country when I was at the library, needing to know more about Rwanda. I am very pleased to have found this book. It is a story I leave for Rwanda in less than two weeks. It is a story of an American woman who moved to central, Sub-Saharan Africa in Despite many odds against her, she stayed her whole life book published in She settled in Rwanda and fell in love with the country.
I have yet to get past her time in the 's, but I am already getting a fresh sense of the land, the culture and her relationships with the people. I think it is exactly the right tone of book for me at this point before my departure. I expect that the tale will have a gruesome turn, but given that this is about the bulk of this woman's life, it will show that more recent point in history but I also expect that she will touch on the healing the country is experiencing as well.
She writes nicely too. A nice, personal memoir that includes images of elephants trampling through her flower garden. Nov 07, Wendy rated it liked it. Somehow the author managed to make her life sound less interesting than she really was. No offense to small presses, but they put out those niche books that appeal to specific interests and don't need to work for mainstream.
They're not amateurish, but the editing is different, or so it seems to Somehow the author managed to make her life sound less interesting than she really was. They're not amateurish, but the editing is different, or so it seems to me. I have no doubt that the author had love and respect for Rwandan people, but the language she used!
The Rwandan history she relates is highly, highly suspect compared to other sources I've read--it seems like she ascribed to faulty "research" and racist beliefs about the supposed differences between Hutu and Tutsi, all stuff I've seen debunked elsewhere. She does seem to be neutral, though, throughout the entire sixty-year span she spent in Rwanda--only on the side of good people and children.
Three stars because I liked it well enough and most of this is just me being snippy. I mean, she was there, I wasn't. Jun 03, Rachel rated it really liked it Shelves: Although the storyline is occasionally choppy--jumping back and forth in time in ways that are a bit confusing--Carr is able to make you see her home in Rwanda as the most beautiful place on earth and the most terrifying.
Having never traveled anywhere in her life, she leaves New York with her husband in the s and sails for Africa, not realizing that it will become her home for the rest of her life. Her extreme love of both the Congo and Rwanda remain steady throughout the turbulent end of t Although the storyline is occasionally choppy--jumping back and forth in time in ways that are a bit confusing--Carr is able to make you see her home in Rwanda as the most beautiful place on earth and the most terrifying.
Her extreme love of both the Congo and Rwanda remain steady throughout the turbulent end of the colonial years, Pan-African nationalism, independence, civil wars, and finally, the Rwandan genocide. Her life as caretaker of a flower farm which she later turns into an orphanage for children displaced in the s conflicts , her fascinating friendship with anthropologist and conservationist Dian Fossey, and her heartbreak at the Rwandan genocide which claims the lives of so many of her friends are the most compelling portions of the book.
Possibly because she had good friends among both the Hutu and Tutsi populations, she is able to present her experiences of the civil war and genocide with more objectivity than most reports--and she is also able to explain the roots of conflict, including the tensions that she witnessed during her 50 years in the Congo and Rwanda. And an absolutely amazing woman. An autobiography of another one of these amazing courageous, strong women.
This time an American, born early in the 20th century, and the life she makes for herself in the Congo and Rwuanda, with and despite her husband who is despicable. The great thing about this book is that it shows how she changed along with the century, although she was never as bad as many of the other white farmers who set up life in Africa. Clearly a few strong African men enabled her to do what she did.
This book als An autobiography of another one of these amazing courageous, strong women. She does not judge, but reports what went on in various waves during her over half century living there. Most amazing is how she went back to Rwuanda, in her 70s, and established an orphanage for Hutu and Tutsi, and had to keep on moving it as conditions allowed.
Worth reading if just for the historical view of how the conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi developed. Jun 29, Ted Olinger rated it really liked it. What a beautiful book and all the more for doing what great stories do, in my view, which is to show how we do not know ourselves by accident, even if it is only through one accident of fate after another that we come to know ourselves at all. This is a stark and moving memoir of a young woman out of her depth in life and in love, a newlywed who emigrates from the U.
Her story What a beautiful book and all the more for doing what great stories do, in my view, which is to show how we do not know ourselves by accident, even if it is only through one accident of fate after another that we come to know ourselves at all. Her story starts with the most personal and ordinary of failures but takes her to a time and place that, as she put it, "would become the standard by which the world would measure human tragedy forevermore. She rebuilt her ruined home with the few workers and friends who had survived, and turned it into an orphanage.
She was then 86 years old, and faced another decade of fighting and struggles to save some of the children in her adopted country. Jun 22, Nancy rated it it was ok Shelves: I love the idea of this story, a true one of an American woman who follows the man she loves to Rwanda and lives an adventure about which I have dreamed. It is Out of Africa-esque, but in my opinion a far cry from the depth of Karin Blixen's story.
In Belgium and France I met many Rwandais all of whom had loved ones I love the idea of this story, a true one of an American woman who follows the man she loves to Rwanda and lives an adventure about which I have dreamed. In Belgium and France I met many Rwandais all of whom had loved ones and neighbors killed in the genocide in Even though I don't think that Rosamond Carr is a good writer, she was a hero. She never left Rwanda and was a champion of the people and land even in the aftermath of this tragedy. So I will try not to be too hard on her.
Maybe I am just jealous since Africa is so different than it was in and I won't be able to buy a coffee farm at the base of a volcanic range and live out the rest of my days Oct 30, Resalo rated it really liked it. WowWhat an amazing book. I always enjoy novels and non-fiction books about Africa, but this one really stood out. Rosamond Carr moved to the Congo in the mid s at the age of 30 with her explorer husband. After the marriage ends, Rosamond takes over the management of a flower plantation in northeast Congo and lives a peaceful life in Belgian Colonial Congo. The years ahead bring turbulent uprisings as the Congo becomes independent in forcing Rosamond to move to neighboring Rwanda.
She WowWhat an amazing book. She lives thru 1 tribal uprising in the early s, befriends famed anthropologist Dian Fossey and then is forced to flee during the Rwandan genocide in April Amazingly at the age of 82 she returns to her Rwandan home in August to rebuild her life and open a home for children made orphans during the brutal killings of Spring In addition to this being a riveting story of an amazing woman, this book is a very readable account of African History that has a personal tone.
May 17, Marcia Call rated it really liked it. So this is the white settler book on Rwanda Of course, it was a different place in time, i.
However, Rosamond has a wonderful appreciation for the people who worked for her and with whom she worked. She also ended up turning over her plantation to a Rwandan national, which was unheard of in the day.
Her candid views of colonial times, the independence of both Congo and Rwanda, the life and times of Dian Fossey, as well as her first-hand acc So this is the white settler book on Rwanda Her candid views of colonial times, the independence of both Congo and Rwanda, the life and times of Dian Fossey, as well as her first-hand account of the genocide are quite spell-binding. I think that any who read it will understand the love those of us who have visited the Great Lakes Region have for the area. This is an easy first read about the region. From here, you will want to take on several of the other books on my reading list.
Feb 04, Neeta rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is a very informative memoir of an American woman who married a British man who was an African explorer. They moved to central Africa in at the time it was colonized by the Belgians.
The succinctness allows for a thorough description of the hardships, pleasures and fears she encountered and all of the fascinating people, lands and animals. WowWhat an amazing book. When the marriage fell apart, she decided to stay on in neighboring Rwanda, as the manager of a flower plantation. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Feb 25, Amanda rated it it was amazing. In Belgium and France I met many Rwandais all of whom had loved ones I love the idea of this story, a true one of an American woman who follows the man she loves to Rwanda and lives an adventure about which I have dreamed. Still she survived, making friends with Dian Fossey, adapting to the new economy and eventually witnessing a period of surprising peace and prosperity.
She fell in love with the country and people of Rwanda and made it her home, leading a fascinating life that took her through a history of decolonization, peace time, political strife, war and revolution, and genocide in Rwanda. The writing is very good, although not poetic. She really cuts to the chase in This is a very informative memoir of an American woman who married a British man who was an African explorer.
She really cuts to the chase in telling her story, which I found to be quite satisfying rather than too abrupt. The succinctness allows for a thorough description of the hardships, pleasures and fears she encountered and all of the fascinating people, lands and animals.
The author has lead an interesting life, especially for a single woman living mostly alone in Rwanda. I enjoyed her inside info and opinions on her friend Diane Fossey and her dedicated work with saving the mountain gorillas; I hadn't expected that at all. Overall I think it was a a good read but not a life changing one or one that I will remember for a long time to come like some other books I have read. It provides in a non-dry manner a clear view of politics and everyday life in Rwanda then The author has lead an interesting life, especially for a single woman living mostly alone in Rwanda.
It provides in a non-dry manner a clear view of politics and everyday life in Rwanda then Ruanda and Congo starting from til present day.
It was concentrated less on the Rwanda genocide than I had expected but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was very informative about the differences in the Rwandan people, Tutsis, Hutus, and Pygmies. Nov 15, Sarah rated it it was amazing. I might be going to Rwanda in June so this is the first book I picked up about the subject.
An inspiring story about a womans life in Rwanda. Amazing how Carr refused to leave at the most dangerous times and wasnt afraid to forge out a life on her own during a time when being an independant woman in another country couldn't have been easy. She always overcame each obstacle she faced and manages to return to Rwanda against all odds as it becomes her home and she could not be happy anywhere else.
I thought the small sections mentioning her friendship with Dian Fossey were especailly interesting and made me want to read more about read more about her life and even watch some of the films before I go. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. About Rosamond Halsey Carr.
Trivia About Land of a Thousan No trivia or quizzes yet. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. In , anarchy fell upon the country. Ethnic rage boiled over. Tutsis fled to Uganda; Hutus took charge. Central Africa burned with the wild fires of liberation. In the west, the Congo sloughed off Belgian rule; Patrice Lumumba and the Mouvement National Congolais took to the streets and to the radio. As a new Africa emerged from black hope and white fear, Carr was left alone.
By she was the only American landowner to live in Rwanda. Still she survived, making friends with Dian Fossey, adapting to the new economy and eventually witnessing a period of surprising peace and prosperity. So much the greater her heartbreak: On April 6, , a plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana was shot out of the sky as it made its descent into Kigali.
In measured tones, she describes how the killing spread across the country. One day eight people were clubbed to death in her fields as they tried to escape their attackers, and soon there were food shortages, power outages and the stench of burning villages and rotting corpses. The story Carr tells in "Land of a Thousand Hills" is simple. It reflects the protected and privileged world she found herself in and her deep love for this faraway place.
The impression is profoundly resonant: