A review by andrew61
The Disappeared, by Kim Echlin
4.0
Really good fiction allows the reader to explore worlds they may will never visit and periods of history that are hard to imagine. By creating well drawn characters and situations I find I am often immersed in those experiences. The story of Cambodia following the American evacuation from Saigon in 1975 is traumatic and the horrors of the Khmer rouge unimaginable so this book which is at heart a love story allowed me to understand to a degree the devastation caused by civil war to a sophisticated and ancient country. It is a fascinating period which I only recall previously visiting in the film 'The Killing field' many years ago however the dreadful nature of Pol Pot's regime is frightening as the book itself details how the population was massacred in pursuit of an agrarian economy to the extent that anyone who spoke a foreign language, read a book, or wore glasses might be executed and child soldiers would hide under houses to eavesdrop on family or neighbours conversations reporting back to authority. It's curious as I write how analogous to the post war impact on Iraq of an American war the situation seems, or the impact of Russian invasion of Afghanistan as in both conflicts lack of planning lead to extreme regimes emerging- 'lessons of history'!
Anyway back to the book- In late 1970's Canada a 16 year old girl of a part time university lecturer (the dad makes prosthetic limbs) visits a jazz club with her older student chaperone. The girl Anna meets Serey a Cambodian migrant and falls in love with him to her single father's displeasure. In 1979, with the fall of Pol Pot, Serey returns to Cambodia to find his family. Eleven years later Anna sees Serey on a TV picture and she travels to Cambodia to find him in a country still riven by civil war. I will not say anymore as the plot has many twists and turns but ultimately the effects of the war impact far beyond the years described in the book with a poignant finale.
I would recommend the book as a very accessible picture of a dreadful time. It has certainly made me want to explore the period and had me 'googling' the history as I was reading.
My only very slight issue was that the chronology was a bit out of kilter but it didn't detract from my 'enjoyment' of the book.
Anyway back to the book- In late 1970's Canada a 16 year old girl of a part time university lecturer (the dad makes prosthetic limbs) visits a jazz club with her older student chaperone. The girl Anna meets Serey a Cambodian migrant and falls in love with him to her single father's displeasure. In 1979, with the fall of Pol Pot, Serey returns to Cambodia to find his family. Eleven years later Anna sees Serey on a TV picture and she travels to Cambodia to find him in a country still riven by civil war. I will not say anymore as the plot has many twists and turns but ultimately the effects of the war impact far beyond the years described in the book with a poignant finale.
I would recommend the book as a very accessible picture of a dreadful time. It has certainly made me want to explore the period and had me 'googling' the history as I was reading.
My only very slight issue was that the chronology was a bit out of kilter but it didn't detract from my 'enjoyment' of the book.