I am glad I bought this book secondhand. Although "A Thousand Sisters" conveys the atrocity of the situation without completely depressing the reader, the author, Lisa Shannon, leaves a bit to be desired. Obviously admirable for her bravery and willingness to do something, Shannon is also a bit tactless. She goes to the Congo with herself and her story in mind rather than with the people of the Congo in mind. Shannon interview the Congolese sisters, and often urges them to talk about their rape experience, even when the women are crying and telling her no. She even goes so far as to continuously ask one sister to name her nine dead children, although the woman is bawling and shaking her head. Shannon does not ask about the personalities of the children; she only asks for their names. In her 5th week in the Congo, she goes into a warzone and grabs her camera out of her bag; she wonders why children flinch when she pulls out the big black machine, although the children have all seen their loved ones gunned down. I have to add that despite my gripes about Shannon, I do admire her bravery and zest; she is a mover and a shaker, and her determination is admirable. I wanted to read this book because we sponsor a young girl in DRC through World Vision, and I wanted to find out more about the country considered to be the worst place in the world for a woman to live. The stories of women there who have experienced hellishly horrible events was touching, and I'm interested in finding out/doing more. From the descriptions in the book, we were relieved to see that in general, the location where our sponsored child lives is not as bad as other places in DRC, but much work needs to be done (including international policy) for the welfare of women and children there.
What do You think about Duizend Zusjes (2011)?
This may go up there with my dislike of other similar memoirs such as A Place in the Sky.
—lis
Thought it was a lot better than "Three Cups of Tea."
—Morgan318
