As residents of Kigali City and eight districts are staying at home due to the upsurge of covid-19 cases, it is the best time to read some good books for relaxation while learning at the same time.
The New Times curated for you 10 latest books written by Rwandan authors to help you during this period.
Prose
Between Wild and Free – Caroline Numuhire – December 2020
In this novel, the author shows the inner voyage of her main character, Linda, in modern Rwanda, toward her quest for love, career, and freedom.
This book was sparked by the daily lives of young professional women who are trying to triumph in their different careers. Linda, who represents all women, feels that she is judged by people around her, like family, co-workers, and friends, which leads to self-doubt, as she wishes to date just like anyone else.
She discovers that with dating, it’s not like other duties one plans to execute but rather determined by the stage a person is in their lives. But throughout the journey, she pushes beyond her external wall and discovers who she is. Linda regains triumph and finds the true meaning of love.
You can get the book here
Barefoot in Germany – Tete Loeper – December 2020 This novel features a character, Mutoni, a young girl from Rwanda who has spent all her life living under a crushing existence of poverty and social pressure. After her mother dies, Mutoni and her sister, Tendeza, want to escape their reality, and they are willing to do anything to make it happen. Invited to come to Germany by a former classmate to meet a potential charming prince, Mutoni can't say no. She dreams of romance and adventure, but life is quick to prove to her that she knew nothing about the cruel ways of the world.
An arranged marriage gives Mutoni the rights to live and work legally in Germany where she spends four years navigating the dynamics of being a young black woman as well as an immigrant. The moment Mutoni understands that she has a place in the country but not in society, she will have to make a difficult decision.
You can get the book here
Ikosa Ryemejwe – Honore Busoro – May 2019
"Ikosa Ryemejwe” which can loosely be translated as "Official Mistake,” responds to questions that have been frequently asked by the youth who were born after the Genocide Against the Tutsi. Busoro is a 23-year-old student at Mount Kenya University pursuing a degree in Mass communication. Having been born and raised after Genocide, he had countless questions that he lacked adequate responses to, however, through interacting with a number of Rwandan youth; he noticed that they too had similar questions. This propelled him to carry out research and address these questions.
You can get the book here
The Letter – Joyce Umuhire – May 2021
This novel tackles the youth who rush into marriage for the sake of money and status, but belittle their feelings and happiness.
In brief, the main character Gloria is faced with an intricate situation. A focused and independent university student, her priority is education. But along the way, a fierce mature man is interested in her. This stranger is willing to do anything to have Gloria as his wife because he is rich. At first, Gloria resists, but the man kidnaps her, and takes her to his home. She faces torture, violence, and rape in marriage. She is impregnated and infected with HIV/AIDS.
To get the book, you can email umuhirejoyce97@gmail.com
From Red Earth: A Rwandan Story of Healing and Forgiveness – Denise Uwimana – April 2019
This memoir revolves around the hundred days when a million Tutsi in Rwanda were slaughtered by their Hutu neighbours. At the height of the genocide, as men with bloody machetes ransacked her home, Denise Uwimana gave birth to her third son. With the unlikely help of Hutu Good Samaritans, she and her children survived. Her husband and other family members were not as lucky.
It would be remarkable enough if this were only a memoir of those chilling days and the long, hard road to personal healing and freedom from her past.
But Uwimana didn’t stop there. Leaving a secure job in business, she devoted the rest of her life to restoring her country by empowering other genocide widows to band together, tell their stories, find healing, and rebuild their lives.
The stories she has uncovered through her work and recounted in this book illustrate the complex and unfinished work of truth-telling, recovery, and reconciliation that may be Rwanda’s lasting legacy. Rising above their nation’s past, Rwanda’s genocide survivors are teaching the world the secret to healing the wound of war and ethnic conflict. You can get the book here
Poetry
Scars that Shape Us – Divine Akimana – November 2020
This poetry collection encompasses poems that tackle mental health issues that children from divorced parents go through. It tackles the life of children in war zones, girl child obstacles in everyday life and how they shape their future existence. The author exposes moral decadence and other vices that corrupt the lives and dignity of her generation.
It is available here for both Paperback and e-book. You can even call or text 0787855855 for delivery.
Love tails – Yves Muhizi – May 2021
This poetry collection comprises poems that talk about love in all forms; God's love, parental love, patriotism love amongst people. It also tackles relationships and explains love as a powerful tool anyone should have.
You can find the ebook on stori africa app or order a hard copy here or on amazon kindle
First Creation - Sandra Nadege - October 2020
This collection of poetry is more like the words pouring out of a teenage poetess and the unvoiced feelings about many aspects of life. The poems talk about love of the motherland, Africa, and are about life, bittersweet tales of newly found love and the latter heartbreaks it causes. It has a portion of the feelings about our gigantic universe, and finally passion and love for oneself.
You can get it here Daunting Confessions - Urbain Gilles Sugira - September 2020 The author of this poetry collection drives you through four different chapters of love, religion, life and a final chapter that tells of his country's lowest moments to new beginnings. The book is a pile of scents of prose that seek to awaken senses in one’s mind, body and soul.
You can get the book here Anxiously Composed — Sylvie Uwonkunda – November 2020 Anxiously Composed is a poetry collection about feelings that in the moment discern themselves as valid. It’s about growing and grasping that emotions are everything as well as embracing every feeling. Writing these pieces has been the best spiritual and therapeutic journey the author has embarked on so far. It kept her emotions on the surface, cramming for a healed heart, or at least, the realization that healing is what she needs.
You can get the book here You can also find previously recommended books here