Books

'Running the Rift'

by Naomi Benaron

Algonquin Books, 388 pp., $24.95

The genocidal civil war that took place in the East African nation of Rwanda in 1994, claiming the lives of some 800,000 people, has been well depicted in the popular film "Hotel Rwanda." The cause of this atrocity was a longstanding rivalry between two main ethnic groups: the Tutsi minority who had ruled the country for centuries, and the majority population of Hutus, who finally overthrew the monarchy in 1962 and gained power. In her first novel, American author Naomi Benaron sheds light on the events leading up to this civil war. "Running the Rift" has won the Bellweather Prize for Fiction, awarded to a novel dealing with social issues.

The year is 1984. Jean Patrick, a young Tutsi boy who's studying in a primary school in rural Rwanda, loses his father in a vehicular accident. While still in mourning Jean Patrick, oblivious to the Hutu-Tutsi divide, encounters yet another shocking incident. A gang of Hutu boys throws rocks at the window of his house and manage to break it. Already a speedy jogger, Jean Patrick runs after the gang, but is unable to catch them. The incident not only humiliates him, but also awakens him to the political realities of his country. He vows to himself and to his relatives to be the best runner he can be and represent his country in the Olympics. Jean Patrick's passion is further fueled when an Olympian visits his school and encourages him to pursue his dream.

As he grows up, Jean Patrick, a gifted track runner, meets constant challenges, such as bullying from his classmates. Once, he is even roughed up by a mob. He faces a moral dilemma when his running coach asks him to consider falsifying information and obtaining a Hutu identity card. The coach even suggests at one point that Jean Patrick should leave the country and settle elsewhere. In another blow, his brother Roger joins a Tutsi-dominated rebel group and drops out of sight, reappearing only occasionally for clandestine visits.

In due time, Jean Patrick enrolls in the university. There he falls in love with a beautiful and enigmatic journalism student, Bea, who is a Hutu. "She was like fire in the wind; he never knew in what direction she would burn." Along with her father, Bea is an activist and a critic of the current Hutu administration. She points out to Jean Patrick the danger inherent in being seen with her, but he's not to be deterred. When the country's president dies in a mysterious airplane crash, Tutsis are blamed and a campaign of Tutsi extermination begins. Jean Patrick must now run the race of his life to save himself and those he loves.

This well-written and well-researched novel is an impressive debut, although at times the book suffers from a surfeit of disturbing events. Our sympathy never deserts Jean Patrick. We concur with Bea when she says to him, "Your hope is the most beautiful and the saddest in the world."

Seattle author Bharti Kirchner's next novel is "Tulip Season: A Mitra Basu Mystery," forthcoming this year.