4 out of 4 stars
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Leahaey is the word for goodbye in Khmer, the primary language of Cambodia. In The Girl who Said Goodbye, Heather Allen writes in the voice of her aunt, Siv Eng, retelling her desperate battle for survival after the Khmer Rouge took control of her native Cambodia. There were many goodbyes between Siv Eng’s family and friends, many of them final.
Siv Eng was in college in the city of Phnom Penh when the Communist Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975. Established Cambodian government officials, doctors, clerics, and educators were executed without trial or excuse. People in the cities were herded to work in the countryside, and regular citizens suffered mercilessly. The Khmer Rouge regarded people as trash to be used up and thrown away. The Cambodian people were disposable, not worth bullets, according to the soldiers. All around the country, people were massacred (by stabbing or bludgeoning in order to save ammunition) and left in mass graves.
Under the Khmer Rouge, the Communist regime took away people’s identities, individually and nationally. Their possessions were seized, and their minds were subject to “reeducation,” brainwashing to reinforce the power of the Khmer Rouge. Cambodians suffered separation from family, hard labor camps, starvation, and malaria. They healed however they could and learned to consume anything they could, including tarantulas and mice. During her battle, Siv Eng fought off injury and disease, isolation and violence. She never lost the will to live, surviving some of the worst that humans could endure.
This book is well edited and is full of good descriptions, powerful prose, and clear descriptions of the characters' emotions. In the story, the author uses flashbacks to Siv Eng’s childhood, describing experiences with her parents, siblings, and school friends. The flashbacks are well done, with previous chapters preparing readers for the change. Chapter titles also include dates and places, which allowed me to keep up with where I was in the story. The flashbacks provide insights into the family and their love for each other before the Khmer Rouge separated them. Allen uses these snippets to focus on individuals, allowing readers to get to know them as rounded characters. Some of the flashbacks also proved to be foreshadowing, relating how Siv Eng acquired skills that helped her to survive her captivity.
I desperately want to tell you the whole story of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge and the strength and decency of Siv Eng and her family. Instead, I recommend this book to you, rating it 4 out of 4 stars. There are a handful of editorial mistakes sprinkled throughout, but there are not nearly enough to deduct a star. The novel is excellently written in a compelling story format, and I frequently had to slow myself down while reading because I wanted to find out what would happen next. The author includes family photos, maps, and a glossary of the Khmer words used in the book.
The story in The Girl who Said Goodbye is compelling, describing not only evil brutality but also the will to survive and even compassion amid trials. Prospective readers might want to know that there is no coarse language or sexual situations in this book. There is, obviously, murder and death, but it is handled quite respectfully by the author. This book would be a good selection for all kinds of readers. People interested in history, Southeast Asia, family bonds, or the survival of body and spirit would enjoy this book.
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The Girl Who Said Goodbye
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