Thirty Girls

139 girls are kidnapped by the Lords Resistance Army run

by Joseph Kony, from a small boarding school in rural Uganda. A brave teacher Sister Giulia follows their trail through the night and miraculously negotiates 109 releases. Esther Akello is one of the thirty girls she cannot save and these young girls spend months and years being pretend wives and having real babies, killing innocent bystanders and doing whatever it takes to survive.

Jane Wood, an American writer, travels to Africa to investigate, interview and document this human atrocity. Jane meets up with an expat group of unique characters that help her follow this story. All the while she is searching, Jane is being chased by her own demons and loneliness.

The two stories are told by these very different but brave women whose lives intertwine. Although this story is fictionalized, it paints a heartbreaking picture of a very real situation which we would all rather not envision. Painful or not, this happened. This is happening. This will continue to happen and how can we possibly not be aware? How can we do nothing?

This is the first novel I have read by Susan Minot and she had me at hello. Could not put this unbelievable story down. Highly recommend.