Discussion Notes for The Weight of Whispers

The first meeting was a great success. We met up in Café Nero and had a good time chatting about Yvonne Adhiambo's story The Weight of Whispers. Set in Rwanda and Kenya during the Genocide in 1994, it tells the story of a man escaping with his family to Kenya as the killing and chaos begins.
Some of the issues raised included how much sympathy the reader felt for the main character. As a prince who escapes on the last flight from Kigali and checks into the Nairobi Hilton, do we feel sorry for him? Another interesting point raised was the use of whispers and rumours in the story to create a sense of suspicion and menace.

The story can be accessed via the following link:

http://www.kwani.org/whispers.htm

If you want to learn more about the Rwandan Genocide you can browse in the Rwanda section in the shop or on the web site.
For a good introduction to the events we recommend
Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey by Fergal Keane.