A beautifully written and evocative story of the horrors of Rwanda in the 1990's. The descriptive passages of the landscape really leave an impact and the characterisation is well portrayed. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills by Jennifer Haupt.

I really did try, but this ended up being a DNF for me. I got more than halfway, but with all of the jumping from character to character, and different storylines, plus my lack of interest, I just couldn't ever really get into it.

What a horrific, tragic story of the Rwandan Genocide, as told from the perspective of three women. Their combined voices seem to project a sense of hope, change and redemption, although the subject matter is dark and daunting. The characters were strong and pure in their beliefs and the plot moved along at a quick pace, without losing it's depth. This book changes me.

What an astounding and beautiful novel. Three women, each searching, each holding on, each afraid to let go, each needing to let go, each needing to move forward.

"Dearest Cricket...Here's a bit of wisdom from your old man: It's the search that really matters, the adventure of living your life. You can quote me on that."

Rachel has been searching. Searching for her father. He left when she was a little girl, and she wants to understand why. Did he ever think of her? Did he miss her? Why would he leave her when he seemed to love her so much? Her search takes her to Rwanda, still heavily scarred and hurting from the genocide that tore the country apart a few years prior. There she finds more than she expected, and learns that her father's words, quoted above, tell a truth she finally accepts.

"Sometimes now, she stares into the mirror, not at the silver sheen on her black hair, not at the fine lines becoming deep grooves like a roadmap of her troubles hanging onto Kwizera, but searching for the light that been in her eyes in that photo."

Lillian, who as a young woman from Atlanta inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., finds her way to Rwanda and builds a life there, rescuing and loving as many children affected by the slaughter as she can. Rachel's father Henry, a photographer, follows her there and for twenty years loves, lives, and works side-by-side with her, building their home Kwizera, until at last he leaves her, just as he left his first family.

"For as long as she can remember, her family has lived with the threat of death - maybe today, maybe tomorrow - as if each day is a gift, easily snatched away."

Nadine, a young woman deeply damaged by an savage attack and by what she witnessed from those who were once considered friends but suddenly became enemies, is saved by Papa Henry, and is taken to Lillian's to live. She tries to bury her memories of that horrible day, and only says she doesn't remember. But the memories are there, and at some point she must decide whether to voice them in order to move on and to let her beloved country move on into reconciliation.

Three women, different but all searching, and eventually tied together with unbreakable bonds that change all of their lives. I learned so much more about the Rwandan tragedy than I had known. The author describes both the brutality and the heart of this country in lovely language, and I won't forget this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

5 stars

Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills is the story of three women who, at a glance, have nothing in common, but are tied together in a way that they do not expect. Rachel Shepard is about to be a mom and is looking for a connection to her past. Lillian Carlson holds some of the answers, but is reluctant to get involved. Nadine was just a child when she had to live through horrendous circumstances. Can these three women come together, finally learning the truth about what haunts them the most?

This book was slow to start, with three distinct perspectives not coming together until well into the novel. The genocide in Rwanda was horrific beyond measure and the author tried to treat this delicate subject matter with broad strokes. I did not need to know the graphic details, but the weight of what happened there was not felt in this book. This was a missed opportunity by the author to educate, to show how the treatment of others can affect the world. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills to other readers.

There is so much compassion between the covers of this book. It's Rwanda from the point of view of a number of characters, each battling their own demons. Although the story takes place after the genocide, there are some disturbing flashbacks which are integral to the story. It is about searching for lost love, parents, children, and lives, but also about searching for a way to accept and forgive. This is a powerful story set in a lush and beautiful country which is well described. I was surprised to learn this is the author's first novel. Ms Haupt has done thorough research and used her words to weave a tale you won't forget.

A tragic story of the Rwandan Genocide, told from the perspective of three women, that somehow manages to be hopeful and powerfully redemptive in spite of the dark subject matter. The characters were strong and the plot moved along briskly while still creating depth. I really enjoyed reading it.

Brilliant tale set in one of Africa's darkest episodes.
Thanks to Central Avenue Publishing and Netgalley

In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills is a beautifully written story of the horrible Rwandan genocide and of family, forgiveness and hope.

The setting for In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills is Lillian's home, aptly named Kwizera. In the African language kinyarwands, the word kwizera means belief and hope. It is belief and hope that Nadine, Lilian, and Rachel all hold on to and that keeps them going. Their belief and hope becomes a commentary on the war and genocide of Rwanda. Ultimately, this is a book about survival and about the triumph of hope and love, a memorable story and history that should be remembered.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/09/in-shadow-of-10000-hills.html

Reviewed for NetGalley

In 2000, Rachel is living in New York with her husband, desperately wanting a child and starting to wonder about her own father who disappeared to travel the world as a photographer almost 30 years before. She has one lead which is a woman named Lillian, living in Rwanda, that she reaches out to and eventually decides to visit in order to try and learn what she can about her father. It is through this trip that she also learns more about Rwanda and the appalling genocide in 1994, and how that impacted her father and those around him.

Although this doesn't sound like a very uplifting novel, it is surprisingly layered and beautiful. It is much more about strength and hope than death and war. I was really impressed that this was Haupt's first novel - she has such a delicate style and is able to describe the most despicable acts in a way that is moving, but not disturbing enough that you turn away. Because although this is a novel, it is based on her own experiences interviewing those in Rwanda in 2006, and the story of what happened in Rwanda should be told and remembered.

I decided to request this book from NetGalley (thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review) after seeing some of the reviews from my friends all landing at 5 stars. It really intrigued me that a book which such strong subject matter could elicit such high reviews, but now I understand. I encourage anyone who enjoys character driven fiction, world events or historical fiction to pick up a copy of this beautiful book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The not so well known subject matter of this book really piqued my interest and I was really excited to read this. I was not disappointed. This is a fantastic story told from the point of view of different characters that were each effected in their own way by the genocide between the Hutu's and the Tutsi's.
It was incredibly well told, without any excessive reference to the violence and horrors experienced by these people. This story needed to be told. I highly recommend it and I am definitely going to read more from this author in the future.

Jennifer Haupt's novel, set during the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, is haunting, yet beautiful at the same time. She authentically captures the horrific nature of genocide and the destruction it leaves in the hearts and minds of its survivors. Although the book feels slow at the start, I fell in love with the ending. I didn't guess how it would all be resolved, and I felt truly sad when I had to say goodbye to these characters. Haupt used her real-life interviews from Rwanda to complete a novel that speaks to the strength and resilience of the human heart.

I thought the premise of this novel was strong -- I was hooked just by the synopsis. However, I felt the dialogue was a little forced and the characters a little flat. It was just missing that spark that I need to pull me into the plot and keep me there. I can certainly see great potential in this author, and I would certainly take a look at any future works, but I put this book aside at the 40% mark.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's hard for me to say I like this book. Not because I didn't like it, but because how can you say you like something about such a tough subject. I think this book was wonderfully written. It provides a learning experience for people that probably couldn't understand or put a face to the victims of Rwandan refugees. If you like books based on true events, this is for you.

A moving story of a woman’s search for the father who abandoned her. Her journey takes her to an orphanage in post genocide Rwandawhich founded by an American woman who was in a very long and unconventional relationship with her father. Each character in the novel is multi-dimensional and the setting in Africa is painted beautifully. The reader is transported to another world where the people and the country have survived a most horrific experience and the scars are deeper than their skin. Yet each character moves forward, the sense of family and community most healing and in a way far removed from therapists and medication. Not everyone is successful, but amazingly most are,.

Suffering from the loss of an unborn child, Rachel Shepard decides that she needs to find her photographer father. Henry Shepard left his eight-year-old daughter and his wife to follow Lillian, a black woman he fell in love with in an era that was a taboo. Rachel’s relationship with her husband strained by the loss of a child sets out for a six-week stay in Rwanda to look for her father.
Set against the backdrop of the one the most heinous genocides the world has ever seen, Rachel lands in Rwanda hoping to reconnect with her father.
What she finds is a country trying to set itself right after years of bloodshed.
Sadly, Rachel’s search for her father against the Rwanda genocide seemed rather shallow, while the stories of Lillian and Nadine tugged at the heartstrings, Rachel did not elicit any empathy from me.

Excellent. Hard to imagine describing a story about genocide in Rwanda as beautiful, but that's the word that I would use to describe In The Shadow of 10,000 Hills.

(a more detailed review is forthcoming and will be attached later.)

“In Rwanda, they have a word ….: Amahoro. It means peace, but so much more.” 

Jennifer Haupt writes of the word “Amahoro” often when she is writing about Rwanda. It means a quest for peace, the type of peace that comes within your soul, your essence, when you have truly forgiven someone and now are at rest with the past. It is a difficult state to achieve, much more difficult if you have been through trauma, but it is this peace, the quest for it and the journey taken along the way, that is at the heart of In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills.

This is the tale primarily of Rachel who, after surviving a miscarriage and the death of her mother, feels the need to seek out her estranged father. a photojournalist living in Rwanda. However, it is also about the women of the villages, the aide workers, her father’s new wife who runs an orphanage in Rwanda and about their commonality of grief. Through the story we learn about the horror, the genocide, that occurred in Rwanda in the 1990s, and we learn how difficult it is to put your life back together after such a massive trauma – but also that trauma, no matter how great or small – binds us all together in a very unique way. It is that link that should open our eyes to the horrors we are causing every single day.

10,000 Hills is not meant to be a documentary of the genocide in Rwanda. It is an opportunity for many readers, all over the world, to learn a bit more about this travesty and, through this knowledge, hopefully, to seek out more resources. That is what I adore about world fiction- it whets the appetite to know more. Many who read this never will have heard of Rwanda, nor will they know about the genocide there. Through a beautiful story they will learn. It is the first step.

The tale itself is marvelously written, the prose is beautiful. It is one of those rare books that opens up both another world outside of my “American concepts” as well as nudges me in the direction to seek out my own peace, to be a better person.

Kudos to Haupt for an excellent book that should be read by all. May we and the world seek and experience Amahoro.

Thank you, also, to Jennifer Haupt and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this incredible piece of work