Running the Rift

von Naomi Benaron

WINNER OF THE BELLWETHER PRIZE FOR FICTION

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COMMONWEALTH WRITERS' PRIZE

Jean Patrick dreams of running in the Olympics, and with gruelling training he soon beats a world qualifying time. But his chances of success are threatened by the ethnic tensions erupting all around him. When Hutu violence against Tutsis finally crescendos and his homeland Rwanda is wracked by unforgivable atrocities, Jean Patrick, a Tutsi, has no choice but to run for his life abandoning fatherland, family, and the woman he loves. Finding them again will be the race of his life.

Following a decade in Rwanda's history through the eyes of one boy, Running the Rift is a wrenching tale of a people's collective trauma, of lives lost, and loves salvaged.