Parents send their daughters to Our Lady of the Nile to be moulded into respectable citizens, and to protect them from the dangers of the outside world. The young ladies are expected to learn, eat, and live together, presided over by the colonial white nuns.

It is fifteen years prior to the 1994 Rwandan genocide and a quota permits only two Tutsi students for every twenty pupils. As Gloriosa, the schools Hutu queen bee, tries on her parents preconceptions and prejudices, Veronica and Virginia, both Tutsis, are determined to find a place for themselves and their history. In the struggle for power and acceptance, the lyce is transformed into a microcosm of the countrys mounting racial tensions and violence. During the interminable rainy season, everything slowly unfolds behind the schools closed doors: friendship, curiosity, fear, deceit, and persecution.

Our Lady of the Nile is a landmark novel about a country divided and a society hurtling towards horror. In gorgeous and devastating prose, Mukasonga captures the dreams, ambitions and prejudices of young women growing up as their country falls apart.

Format: Paperback
Published: in UK in 2021
Publisher: Daunt Books
Pages: 224
Language: English
ISBN 13: 9781911547884
ISBN 10: 1911547887