October 2019 - First They Killed My Father
 

First They Killed My Father

by Luong Ung

Book Group 2 – October 2019

This is a story that was repeated in approximately eight million lives.  It was the agrarian, communist dream that was to restore Kampuchea but ended up forcing constant hunger on its citizens until more than two million died.  The narrator of this book is five-year old Luong, "a diamond in the rough".  Her life experiences matured her very quickly.  While five of her seven siblings survived, this is a story that rips a family apart and extracts a high price to survive.  Luong's tale spans less than a decade and at least four countries.  An always-shocking tale, life under the Khmer Rouge affected the very old, the very young and everyone in between.

 

Our group rated the book a 7 out of 10.

 
 

Barbara Angell