Molyda Szymusiak

"The weeks went by and still no food was distributed", 1 Dec 2014

This review is from: The Stones Cry out: A Cambodian Childhood 1975-1980: Cambodian Childhood, 1975-81 (Mass Market Paperback)
Published in 1984 by a young girl who lived through the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, this starts when the family are uprooted from their middle class life by gangs of black-uniformed 'Mekongs' to traipse across the countryside and participate in forced labour on starvation rations - planting rice in shoulder-deep water and clearing mud for roads.
As those around her die of cholera and malnutrition, and the casual executions of Pol Pot's regime become commonplace, the author somehow manages to survive - just - until she ends up at a refugee camp and is adopted by a French couple (hence her European name.)
The terrible experiences the author underwent makes one want to automatically give this *5. However although a clear and concise account of events, it felt just a little too detached, almost as if she's relating something that happened to someone else, and loses a little of its power on that score.
But most certainly a valuable work, recording a horrific story that we should never forget.… (mehr)