Tears of the Desert - (Random House Reader's Circle) by Halima Bashir & Damien Lewis (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Born into the Zaghawa tribe in the Sudanese desert, Halima Bashir received a good education away from her rural surroundings (thanks to her doting, politically astute father) and at twenty-four became her village's first formal doctor. Yet not even Bashir's degree could protect her from the encroaching conflict that would consume her homeland. Janjaweed Arab militias savagely assaulted the Zaghawa, often with the backing of the Sudanese military. Then, in early 2004, the Janjaweed attacked Bashir's village and surrounding areas, raping forty-two schoolgirls and their teachers. Bashir, who treated the traumatized victims, some as young as eight years old, could no longer remain quiet. But breaking her silence ignited a horrifying turn of events.

Raw and riveting, Tears of the Desert is the first memoir ever written by a woman caught up in the war in Darfur. It is a survivor's tale of a conflicted country, a resilient people, and an uncompromising spirit.

Praise for Tears of the Desert

"This is a brave book. And a valuable one. Halima's story of the atrocities and immeasurable losses she has endured must be told."--Mia Farrow, actor and advocate

"Vivid, poignant and brutally candid . . . Tears of the Desert is that rarest of literary endeavors, not just a book you read but a book you experience."--The Washington Post Book World

"An extraordinary memoir . . . Halima Bashir's bravery contrasts with the world's fecklessness and failures."--Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times

"Searing . . . Tears of the Desert gives voice to the unspeakable."--USA Today

"Powerful, harrowing and brave."--The Economist

"A luminous tale of growing up in rural Darfur . . . a wonderful and moving African memoir."--The New York Review of Books

Review Quotes

"Powerful, harrowing, and brave . . . Ms. Bashir's account will help to provide vital testimony . . . [and] will also help people to understand the subtleties that usually escape Western headlines about Darfur."--The Economist (UK)

"[Tears of the Desert] paints a vivid picture of a traditional lifestyle under siege, a portrait of the people of Darfur before they became victims."--Newsweek

"Brave . . . [Bashir's] harrowing and heartbreaking survivor's story is [a] global call to action to combat one of the most terrifying genocides of the twenty-first century."--Ebony

"With the voice of a stalwart and honest survivor, [Bashir] spares little in her own defense and acknowledges with terse yet warm specifics those who sustained her on her path."--Ms.

"Put down In Touch, pick up Tears of the Desert."--Marie Claire

"Remarkable . . . required reading."--New York Post

"A harrowing and beautifully written tale of a rich life, untold suffering, and impossible hope told from the heart of a fellow African sister. Read this as the tragedy that has overcome our long-suffering country, Sudan."--Mende Nazer, author of Slave and Freedom

"Halima's story is fantastic and exhausting, perhaps all the more so because I can see and hear and feel the people and places she describes. People need to be drawn into Darfur through stories like this, to cut through the statistics and the horror and to come back to the humanity--to families, love, hope, and courage and the normality of life in such abnormal circumstances."--Lisa French Blaker, author of Heart of Darfur

"Bashir, a physician and refugee living in London, offers a vivid personal portrait of life in the Darfur region before the catastrophe. . . . The violence the author recounts is harrowing . . . This is a vehement cri de coeur, but in showing what she suffered, and lost, Bashir makes it resonate."--Publishers Weekly

"Both heartrending and chilling."--Kirkus Reviews

"Bashir is now a powerful voice for the victims of Darfur. . . . Harsh in its honesty, Bashir's chronicle is shocking and disturbing. An unforgettable tragedy."--Booklist

About the Author

Damien Lewis has spent the last twenty years reporting from war zones in Africa, with a particular focus and expertise in Sudan. His reporting from Darfur won the BBC One World Award. He is the internationally bestselling co-author of Slave, winner of the Index on Censorship Book Award.