Our Lady of the Nile

Our Lady of the Nile
First French edition
AuthorScholastique Mukasonga
Original titleNotre-Dame du Nil
TranslatorMelanie Mauthner
LanguageFrench
PublisherÉditions Gallimard
Publication date
2012
Published in English
2014
ISBN978-2-070-13342-0

Our Lady of the Nile (French: Notre-Dame du Nil) is a French-language novel by Rwanda-born writer Scholastique Mukasonga,[1] originally published in 2012 by Éditions Gallimard.[2] It is Mukasonga's fourth book and first novel.[3] The English-language translation, published in the United States in 2014 by Archipelago Books, was done by Melanie Mauthner,[4] a poet and writer from the United Kingdom.[5]

The story is about life at a Catholic boarding secondary school in Nyambinombe District, Rwanda, circa 1980, prior to the Rwandan genocide of 1994.[6]

Christine Rousseau of Le Monde wrote that "With bitter and tense writing, Our Lady of the Nile depicts a society walking inexorably towards horror."[7] Brian P. Kelly of The New Criterion wrote that the book "is a snapshot of the social and racial conflicts that eventually led to the 1994 massacres."[8] Madeleine LaRue of Music & Literature wrote that "The West has indeed too often dismissed suffering in Africa, but books like Our Lady of the Nile remind us why we must not be dismissive, why we must not look away."[9]

In 2022, the novel was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[10]

  1. ^ "Scholastique MUKASONGA Notre Dame du Nil / Our Lady of the Nile Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine." Institut Français, Denmark. November 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Our Lady of the Nile Archived 28 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine." Archipelago Books. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  3. ^ Taylor, John. "Fuse Book Review: “Our Lady of the Nile” — Prefiguring Rwandan Genocide" (Archive). The Arts Fuse. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  4. ^ Gabudeanu, Andreea. "Our Lady of the Nile" (Archive). World Literature Today, 3 April 2015, Volume 89, Issue 2. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  5. ^ Popkin, Nathaniel. "OUR LADY OF THE NILE" (Archive). Cleaver Magazine. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  6. ^ Byrd, Christopher. "'Our Lady of the Nile,' a novel set in Rwanda before the 1994 genocide, has an air of foreboding and urgency." Barnes & Noble Review, 1 October 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2015. See repost at Archived 27 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Archive) Christian Science Monitor
  7. ^ Rosseau, Christine. "Scholastique Mukasonga : avant le génocide." Le Monde. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  8. ^ Kelly, Brian P. "Critic's Notebook for August 25, 2014". The New Criterion. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  9. ^ LaRue, Madeleine. "Scholastique Mukasonga’s Our Lady of the Nile" (Archive). Music & Literature. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  10. ^ "The Big Jubilee Read: A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign". BBC. 17 April 2022. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2022.