Eight people gathered at our April meeting to discuss Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder. This was the story of Deogratias, a refugee from Burundi who manages to escape the genocide and the civil war in his country to live in New York City and eventually to continue his medical studies in order to realize his dream of opening a clinic in his home country. We watched two short clips before the discussion started: one of Deogratias talking about his clinic in Burundi and the other an interview with Tracy Kidder about writing Deo’s story.
This book reminded one reader of God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau about a Sudanese refugee and of Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza, a Rwandan genocide survivor.
Other books that book club members are reading:
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See – We read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by See, but this reader says that Shanghai Girls is even better
Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy-Her latest
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery-Even better reading in the original French