The three stars are all for the content. The book gives some insight into how it must have felt to be dragged out of your home and forced into the countryside, to see atrocities around you, to lose close members of your family, and not really understand what was happening or what would happen next. I really did, however, have problems with the narrative choice of the book even if I felt I understood what the writer was trying to achieve. The story is told by a five year old who has a cognitive awareness well beyond her years and a supreme mastery of the English language, and it is told in the present tense. This gnawed at me page after page. I really would have been happier with a past tense account with some explanation of her lack of understanding of events. I am probably alone in my feelings about this, and possibly being unreasonable, but it did have an effect on my reception of the book.

It's hard to rate such a tragic story. Another country gone mad and a young girl lives through hunger, disease, lose of parents, political inanity, homelessness, hopelessness and war. This is a brutal written memoir of a brutal insane period in Cambodia.

This book left me feeling more than a little haunted and reflective. I read this book while on the slow boat from Thailand into Laos, in preparation for my trip down to Cambodia in a couple of weeks time. Reading a first hand account of the atrocities that occurred under the Khmer Rouge in our lifetime was sobering. I had considered myself aware of the nature of Khmer Rouge regime, and knew on a superficial level what happened, but this book was a genuine eye opener on the impact on real families. Although a tale of a dark, horrific struggle for a young girl, a family and a nation, this story also left me in awe of a country who could endure all that they did, then rebuild and forgive. I'm in Cambodia now and am glad that I read this book. I would recommend to anyone considering a trip to Cambodia - have a read of this book to at least get a glimpse of Cambodia's history from not so long ago.

This was a horrific story of the terror and violence that the Khmer Rouge inflicted on the innocent people of Cambodia. Loung is the daughter of a high ranking government official, and the very type of family that the Khmer Rouge despise. The family tree to flee, pretending to be poor farmers, but are eventually imprisoned in a camp. The camp hardships and fear take their toll on the family and things get worse when they are all gradually separated into different camps, not knowing if they will ever see each other again, all individually struggling for survival.

I'm not going to spoil the book by saying anything about what happens in the camps or what happens to the characters. This is a book that you must read and uncover the horrors for yourself and I highly recommend this one to those who like these true life stories. I can't even begin to imagine how I would have coped in this situation and I really hope I never have to. If you thought the story An Ordinary Man-the Hotel Rwanda story was shocking then this one will really horrify you.