If Halima Bashier meant to tell of her youth in a way that caused me to think her a kindred spirit, it worked.

If she desired to show the normalcy and happiness of her life, she did.

If she intended this in an effort to sharpen the contrast between the joyful life she lived and deep and the horrible loss she experienced, she succeeded. ( )

Bashir's story is surprisingly joyful. Much of the book shows us just how good it was before it got bad. The conflicts stay shadows on her horizon for a long time before they lengthen to cover her life.

When the fighting comes to her, it is jarring, sickening and swift. Bashir's strength and humor takes her through an awful time, and humanizes a bloodbath that seems so removed from my life.

It matters more when it is someone you know, now I know Halima. ( )

Halima Bashir's book Tears of the Desert clearly outlines the sad struggles of women in war-torn Sudan. The horrors this woman has experienced will bring you to tears. These eye-witness accounts of the horrendous events that happen in the world are necessary for us to understand. A woman's voice is not often heard in the Islamic world. I am glad that Ms. Bashir wrote shared her story. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the issues that women in the Sudan are facing. ( )

Halima Bashir has shown a lot of courage throughout her life, starting as a young girl leaving her village to study in the "big school" where she faced discrimination. She continued her courageous fight as a doctor. And, finally, in writing this honest and moving account of the genocide in Darfur, and of her personal suffering, she has shown not only that courage, but a generosity of spirit in speaking out to help others.

This book will move you and you will be glad you read it. ( )

This book will make you smile; it will move you to tears; it will make you furiously angry at the injustice and brutality of recent life in Darfur. Halima Bashir is an eloquent voice for the thousands of other nameless, faceless women who bravely try to survive day to day in a hostile world where so many in our country and others look the other way.Don't try to read it all in one sitting, though -- it's too powerful for that. ( )

I will say I liked this book a LOT but I am really only posting on here because I am wondering if someone can make some suggestions about which actors you would have play each main character if this book were made into a movie....this is for my nonwestern lit class and I have no ideas. ( )

Tears of the Desert is a fantastic addition to the post-war memoirs that are coming out so frequently these days. A rare look into what it is like to live, and survive, in the midst of so much chaos and bloodshed.

Sudan and women. Very good but very sad. ( )

Very haunting book about the genocide struggles in Darfur. This book will keep you up at night reading and praying for help for those in need. I could not put it down. ( )

Halima Bashir has written a book that is hard to put down about her life in Darfur. While Darfur has gone through much upheaval recenty, Bashir's childhood was a happy one. Bashir's book is so well written that even though the events she experienced were difficult to read about, I didn't want to close the book. I also am amazed by Bashir's ability to forge on with her life. She is currently living in England with her two sons and husband, where she has received asylum. ( )

This incredibly moving memoir told the story of one womans life before, during and after war in Sudan. Halima Bashir connects with readers by describing her incredibly typical childhood leading up to the conflict in Sudan. She elegantly describes even her darkest moments, so that while I had many teary moments, the hope and courage of Halima shone through, during her circumcision, her encounters with police and her rape at their hands we know she will survive. I have read a fair amount about Sudan, but rarely is the female experience told. Halima eloquently and honestly tells her story all the while shattering American stereotypes about Africa. I highly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in women's studies or African Studies. ( )

A heart wrenching story of one young woman's survival of the atrocities in the Sudan. Beautifully told. ( )

Subtitled “A Memoir of Survival in Darfur,” this Darfur memoir was better than The Translator, mostly because Bashir begins with her childhood as a member of the fierce Zaghawa tribe in Sudan. Her father is the wealthiest man in the village – they have a television, two radios, and a Land Rover – but Bashir is mostly fortunate in that he has more enlightened attitudes about his daughter. He sends her to an Arab school in a nearby town, where she defies the Arab teachers and students and reaches the top of the class, ultimately qualifying for college and medical school. Bashir’s youth sounds almost idyllic, except for female circumcision at age 8 (described in horrifying detail), incomprehensively directed by her own mother and grandmother.

At age 24, Bashir becomes her tribe’s first qualified doctor. After treating rebel fighters, the government sends her to a remote village, where she treats a school full of girls raped by the dreaded Janjaweed, the “devil horsemen” Arab fighters. Bashir experiences even more horror when the Janjaweed gang-rape her and attack her home village. Not surprisingly, she ends up seeking asylum in England where she writes this book.

The book has a glossary of Arabic and Zaghawa terms at the end, but oddly enough it does not define Janjaweed, and the terms are not in alphabetical order (in this advance reader edition, courtesy of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program). The book would also benefit from a map and from dates in the chapter headings. An author’s note at the beginning indicates that Bashir was born in 1979, but it gets tiresome trying to do the math and figure out the years events are occurring with sometimes-there sometimes-not ages of Bashir.

The book reads like a novel, probably due to co-writer Damien Lewis, a BBC reporter who has covered conflicts in Africa for many years. This book gave me a much better picture of what is going on in Darfur today. ( )

Tears of the Desert, A Memoir of Survival in Darfur

Tears of the Desert written by Halima Bashir is a poignant memoir capable of producing copious empathetic tears. During the first part of the book, the author recounts her childhood and family life growing up in a village in South Dafur. She establishes a beautiful picture of the Zaghawa tribe culture, her feelings, her aspirations and how she relates to all family members. An extended family surrounds her, most importantly, a father who adores her and her feisty Grandma Sumah, a traditionalist with an iron will. As the pleasant images of her upbringing unfold there are also some which are considered barbaric in other cultures. However, involving the reader in this way she makes you a captive caring companion to her feelings and ideas.

During the next part of the story, she shares the tragic atrocities that were inflicted upon her. She details her eyewitness account of horrors of death and suffering in her village and country. Several times during the retelling of her brutal beating and gang rape by the Sudanese Government supported army, Halima prays for death, prays for an end to her suffering. She would rather die than live. A Memoir of Survival in Darfur, the book’s subtitle really is her survival from despair, hopelessness, and the dark depths of depression. She now believes she survived to be a messenger, to be able to share her personal tragedy with the world community.

As the book concludes, you reflect on this story of survival, courage and tenacity of will few of us can even fathom. The atrocities she witnessed and the torture she endured are graphic and uncensored. This is a reality that every world citizen must face. Her hope is that her story will shed more light on the situation in Darfur so that the international community will help end the pain, suffering and genocide.

Readers will find the epilogue with the details of the history and causes for the current situation in Darfur informative. Organizations are listed for those looking for ways to assist the people of Darfur.

I was moved to tears by this memoir of Halima Bashir. There were difficult moments while reading where I just couldn’t even comprehend the sick savage inhumane treatment inflicted upon Ms. Bashir. I hope that she will find her family and continue to have the will to fight the fight as Grandma Sumah would have. Highly recommended. ( )

This was a very moving and touching memoir that made me cry at several points. Prior to reading this novel, I knew little about what has been happening in Darfur, something I am ashamed to admit. This book certainly educated me a lot.

Also I found the traditions that Bashir grew up with interesting to read about and it was obvious how much she loved her family in her descriptions of her childhood and of when she returns to her home village.

There were a lot of disturbing events in the book, but they are there to inform, not to sensationalize them. The part that sticks out the most in my mind was the female circumcision that she had to go through. I had never read an account of it before and being female myself, I know how much of a violation that could be. I can't begin to imagine the pain or the betrayal she felt, but I can understand.

Bashir is a very brave and strong woman and I think she should be considered someone to look up to as she never stopped fighting in her own way with her care of the injured and speaking out. ( )

Halima Bashir’s narrative is compelling and heartbreaking. Her characterizations of her family and friends are deftly created and the most engaging aspect of the book. The destruction of the vibrant, flawed, and endearing society that she sketches in the early chapters of the book adds to the horror of the genocide in the latter chapters. ( )

This is such an important subject and an important book. The problems in Dafur often seem remote and removed from our experience. But her story of growing up in her close family and community reminds all of us of our common humanity and experiences. So then the horrors that happen to Halima Bashir touch us in a deep profound way. I wept for her pain and wept for the fact that this is happening in our world, This was a Library Thing Early Reviewer book and I am so thankful I was sent a copy and will be recommending it for others to read. ( )

This is a powerful, if not profound and heartbreaking account of a woman who survived through something no person should ever suffer in their life, particularly a woman with an educated background and a respectable occupation.

I've seen a fair share of news stories (and a documentary or two) about Darfur and the violent war that has clearly affected its people not only physically and mentally, but I have rarely seen a story that struck a chord in me more than the one told by Halima.

I have nothing but praise for this book. And I feel rather moved that she's willing to risk everything (including the lives of her husband and son and the fear that she, at any moment, might be forcibly deported to Sudan without any explanation) to tell her story. ( )

Tears of the Desert is the memoir of Halima Bashir, a young woman who witnessed many atrocities in her homeland of Darfur and was courageous enough to speak out. Halima had an ordinary childhood as a member of the Zaghawa tribe. Life was carefree for the most part, doing chores and playing with other children in the village. Her father was the wealthiest man in the village (not rich by our standards, however), so Halima and her family enjoyed more comforts than the other village residents, including a Land Rover, a television, and a radio. Halima had a very close relationship with her father, who supported and furthered her desire for higher education, allowing her to postpone marriage to become the village's first doctor.

Life changed dramatically for Halima when the Arab-led Sudanese government waged war against the black Africans in Darfur. After speaking out about the horrors she witnessed caring for the war wounded in the hospital in Hashma, Halima was forced to serve as doctor in a remote village. It was in this village of Mazkhabad that the war really hit home. After treating 42 schoolgirls between the ages of 7 and 13 (in addition to a young teacher) who were raped and beaten by the Janjaweed, or devil horsemen (a militia helped by the Sudanese government), and speaking to United Nations workers about the brutality she'd witnessed, Halima was captured, raped, and tortured. But more atrocities awaited Halima in her home village.

more ( )

It seems strange to say that you enjoyed a book about genocide, so I won't, but I will say that Tears of the Desert was well-written and compelling and that I am very glad I read it.

http://somewhatbookish.wordpress.com/... ( )

Halima Bashir is a courageous woman. The situation in Sudan, and Darfur in particular, is very dangerous. In the past, speaking out caused her pain, both physically and mentally. This didn't stop her from writing this book and hopefully bringing the reality of the situation in Darfur to more people around the world.

Tears of the Desert is a heartbreaking story. Some of her descriptions of the treatment the Black Africans at the hands of the Arabs made me cringe. The torture the Darfuri people have endured is unthinkable. Bashir doesn't sensationalize this torture, but neither does she sugar-coat her words either.

The one part of the book that I had a hard time relating to was the first section where she described growing up in her village. She would describe things she and her brothers had done, but they didn't seem to match up with their ages. For example, she describes one time she was held down by her brother and she struggled fiercely to get away, but couldn't. She was supposed to be 10 and her brother 2. She would also describe situations at school and her actions seemed like a much older child. While this isn't a huge point, I found it mildly distracting.

This book does a wonderful job of personalizing the conflict in Darfur. By focusing on Bashir's story it puts a real face on the tragedy and makes it hard to feel removed from it. ( )

The first half of this book is about the author's childhood. It is rather boring, but I believe she wanted to press the point that she was a regular child with a regular childhood, and this still happened to her. The second half of the book was much more interesting. I found the epilogue to be the most interesting however. I will try to no longer buy stuff from China. I am mad at them for helping in a large way to keep this genocide going. ( )

This book is a gripping and haunting tale, all the more so because it is true. It brings to life the horrors we hear about in Darfur, Sudan through the tale of one highly intelligent and courageous woman, who dared to keep pursuing her education and work while standing up for what is right in the midst of terrible persecution. While the book is pegged as being about the war and genocide in Sudan, it is more than that. Bashir begins with telling about her childhood, showing another side of Sudanese life that doesn't make it into the news. The reader is invited into Bashir's home and village and is made that much richer in knowledge by learning about what another culture looks like at peace -- and seeing the destruction that occurs when hatred and racism are given free rein. ( )

Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur by Halima Bashir is a very emotional and riveting book. I found this book very painful to read at times, yet I couldn’t put it down, even though I was sobbing at some points. I was lucky enough to receive this Random House publication from the Library Thing Early Reviewer Program.

It seemed that Halima Bashir was born lucky. She is from Darfur, a region of Sudan, and a member of the Zaghawa tribe, and was born into a family that was wealthier than most. For the most part, she had a happy childhood. She was the oldest child of an enlightened and progressive father. He recognized her intelligence early and had big dreams for her. She was sent to a city school because the village schools were not very good. It was there that she faced prejudices and social injustices for the first time . Even so, she excelled at school and went on to university and became a medical doctor.

It was after she was finished with school that violence really took over her beloved country. Janjaweed, armed by the Sudanese government began attacking black Africans. Rebel groups were formed to fight back. Halima’s willingness to treat these rebels got her in trouble with the government. She was forced to escape from her country and is fighting the injustice from afar.

The terror and destruction these people have to live with is unimaginable. You need to read this book in order to comprehend it. One thing that struck me is the role that China has played and continues to play in the genocide that is taking place in Darfur. That gives me one more reason to avoid buying Chinese made products. ( )

This is one of the most moving, harrowing, and incredible books I have ever read. Although I have read several other wonderful biographies of the genocide occuring in Darfur, none have moved me like Bashir's tale. She spends a sizable portion of the book painting a vivid picture for her readers of her childhood prior to the violence. This effort is the greatest difference between her books and others I have read which begin with the violence. Through Bashir's memories, we cannot help but feel that we have much more in common with the people in Zaghawa tribe than we have differences. The playful love and nuturing of their children are strong, unifying factors. She has hopes and goals for her future, just like children in our countries.
Of course, their are strong cultural differences as well and she does not feel the need to cover these up. Most striking is the widespread practice of female circumcision, including Bashir's at age 8. When the war does come to Bashir's area, she does not simply hide or run away. As a newly graduated doctor, she takes the life-threatening role of treating the local people who are attempting to fight to survive.
I did not want to put this book down and grieved when I finished with it. It inspires within me a stronger need to act against the slaughter in Darfur, as well as continue to educate myself about the remarkable people of this area. I could not recommend any book stronger than Tears of the Desert. ( )