Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur

By Cathie Beck, Special to the Rocky

Published October 2, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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* Nonfiction. By Halima Bashir with Damien Lewis. Random House, $25. Grade: B

Book in a nutshell: Bashir, born into the Zaghawa tribe in the Sudanese desert, was doted on by her father, a cattle herder and politically astute man. Bashir enjoyed a close and loving family life, made colorful by her acerbic grandmother and adventurous, rural existence. Her father saw to it that she received an excellent education, and Bashir went on to study medicine. At age 24, she was the first doctor in her village.

In 2004, Bashir's village came under attack by Janjaweed Arab militants who were backed by the Sudanese military. The Janjaweed raped 42 schoolgirls and their teachers. Bashir treated the traumatized, some as young as 8 years old. Tears of the Desert sheds first-hand light on a horrific, 21st century genocide.

Best tidbit: Bashir, along with other doctors in her clinic, allowed a reporter to interview her about the country's political unrest. Though she felt she'd artfully dodged any problems, she later learned she'd been included in a story that reflected her anti-Janjaweed sympathies. Furthermore, she'd been sneaking medical supplies to soldiers wounded and hiding in the forests and felt that someone had reported her.

One day, the rebel soldiers took her to a makeshift torture and gang-rape cell. Describing her days of torture, she writes (with co-author Lewis): "I stared at him with dull, unseeing eyes. I saw nothing. I was in a far-away place where my god had taken me, a place where they couldn't reach me anymore. I was safe there. It was not death, which is what I'd asked for and begged for and prayed for. But it was the next best thing - the best thing that my god could do for me in the circumstances."

Pros: This work brings present-day atrocities to readers who, without Bashir's first-hand experience, might never have known about this tragedy.

Cons: The stark realities, particularly those involving children, can make this difficult to read. The account of entire villages being destroyed is compelling, but there's a sense of straight-reporting, without any of the literary elements offered in finer war works, such as Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War or Elie Wiesel's Night.

Final word: It took World War II Holocaust and other genocide survivors decades to speak out. Here's a work about an atrocity in progress, which makes it a brave, compelling and timely piece.

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