The shadow of Imana cover

The shadow of Imana

by Véronique Tadjo

"As evidence emerged of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the outside world reeled in shock. What could have motivated these individual and collective acts of evil? In 1998 Véronique Tadjo travelled to Rwanda to try to find out. She started with the premise that what happened in Rwanda concerns us all. It is a reminder that humankind the world over is capable of genocide. Records of what the author saw--sites of massacres, corpses, weapons dumps--are combined with personal stories: of traumatised returnees, bereaved survivors, rape victims, orphans, lawyers faced with the impossible task of doing justice, prisoners. But [this book] goes beyond reportage. With passages savouring of poetry and traditional tales, Tadjo explores the spiritual legacy of the genocide and uncovers a healing vitality and a commitment to forgiveness."--Publisher's description, from p. [4] of cover.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?