Maison Rouge (Memories of a Childhood in War)

Leila Liliane Juma was sixteen years old when her family home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was destroyed by rebel soldiers. In this gut-wrenching memoir, she gives an account of her life before and after her family was torn apart by the twin nightmares of civil war and invasion. Sincere and revealing, it gives a moving account of a young girl’s journey from a protected and secure family life through a series of brutal conflicts that saw her father murdered and her former life utterly destroyed. Maison Rouge is a story of war and unspeakable loss. It is also the story of survival. Eventually, through the United Nations refugee program, Leila and her family were finally able to relocate to Canada.