Year of the Rabbit
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- £14.99
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- £14.99
Publisher Description
One family's quest to survive the devastation of the Khmer Rouge
Year of the Rabbit tells the true story of one family’s desperate struggle to survive the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Immediately after declaring victory in the war, they set about evacuating the country’s major cities with the brutal ruthlessness and disregard for humanity that characterized the regime ultimately responsible for the deaths of one million citizens.
Cartoonist Tian Veasna was born just three days after the Khmer Rouge takeover, as his family set forth on the chaotic mass exodus from Phnom Penh. Year of the Rabbit is based on firsthand accounts, all told from the perspective of his parents and other close relatives. Stripped of any money or material possessions, Veasna’s family found themselves exiled to the barren countryside along with thousands of others, where food was scarce and brutal violence a constant threat.
Year of the Rabbit shows the reality of life in the work camps, where Veasna’s family bartered for goods, where children were instructed to spy on their parents, and where reading was proof positive of being a class traitor. Constantly on the edge of annihilation, they realized there was only one choice—they had to escape Cambodia and become refugees. Veasna has created a harrowing, deeply personal account of one of the twentieth century’s greatest tragedies.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Khmer Rouge killed 26% of the population of Cambodia; while it would be impossible to reflect all the individual stories contained within that statistic, Veasna's saga of his family's survival is a moving addition to a growing body of diaspora work about the war years. It's 1975 and Khim, a Phnom Penh doctor; his pregnant wife, Lina; and their extended family are caught in the middle of a conflict between American-backed forces and the Communist Khmer Rouge. Confusion reigns over who's in power and who can be trusted. Veasna sets the regime's boasts about restored dignity and equality against a backdrop of destroyed villages. Khim and his family make a winding, years-long escape, punctuated by tragedy, great kindness, and moments of joy. Charts of things such as the barter value of various goods (rice, aspirin, cigarettes), coupled with impressionistic drawings of the villages where exiled city folk are forced to farm rice, serve as a reminder that daily life marches on. Although Veasna's epic could have benefited from a family tree, he does an admirable job of keeping a clear narrative within the chaos. This memorable memoir is a stirring depiction of how both trauma and healing take place over the course of generations. (Nov.)
