Left to tell

09 Jul 2010

By The Record

By Immaculee Ilibagiza
Reviewed By Mark Reidy
Left to Tell is a journey into the depths of fear and hate that most of us will never have to experience, but ultimately it is a story of redemption, forgiveness and a glimpse into the heart of God.
left-to-tell-cover.jpg
In 1994 Immaculee Ilibagiza was forced to spend three months hidden in a tiny bathroom with seven other women as the horror of the Rwandan holocaust, which claimed up to a million Tutsi victims, closed in on them. Her recollection of that unimaginable nightmare is simultaneously burdensome and mesmerising. I found myself weighed down by the dimension of evil that Immaculee describes, but equally fascinated by her unfolding intimacy with God within this darkness. This book delves into the extremes of spirituality and human emotion, from the depraved to the Divine, and forms a bridge of hope between them.
Immaculee takes the reader on a journey from her tranquil pre-holocaust life, through the sickening genocide and finally to a place of peace again. It is a journey that is emotionally draining, but ultimately deepened my faith with an understanding that the love of God can overcome even the most depraved elements of human nature.
It is difficult not to become personally involved in this story as Immaculee shares the reality of her fear, anxiety and anger as she details the murders of her family and describes the “visions of hell” that she was forced to witness. But she bares her heart and soul, not with a desire for revenge, but rather with the message that only God can penetrate the evil that she experienced.
There is gut-wrenching honesty as she wrestles with her cascading levels of grief and her temptation for vengeance, but amidst her despair she chooses to forgive and emerges with a yearning to unite a nation whose fabric has been seemingly torn beyond repair.
 While most readers may be shaken by the details of horror that are portrayed in these pages, it is one well worth taking, as the journey from hate to hope, fear to forgiveness, may well be a life changing one.