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A review by _askthebookbug
You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr
5.0
You will be safe here.
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Thank you for this copy @bloomsburyindia and @mrdamianbarr.
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"In the water, in the dark. It doesn’t matter whose fingers find whose toes. Nobody can see. The stars are saying nothing." - Damian Barr.
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I had often heard the term 'Boer War' but I never tried to educate myself about it. I'll forever be thankful for this book in teaching me so many important things related to that horrible time of 1901 when humanity was dead. When the British waged war over South African Republic and the Orange Free State, thousands of innocents were murdered and tortured. You will be safe here is a historical fiction that explains in detail about the concentration camps that Boers were put into by the British after they scorched all the farms.
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The story is split into three timelines - 1901, 1976 and 2010. The first part talks about a Boer woman, Sarah Van Der Watt who is put into the camp with her six year old son and neighbours. Sarah maintains a diary in which she notes down the horrors of the camp where people died like flies everyday. She addresses all of those to her husband who is out fighting the war. She talks about the poisoned meat, lack of medicines, lack of sanitary facility and everything that turned people into a weaker form of themselves. The second part talks about a woman Rayna who has two children out of wedlock and raises them as a single mother. The third talks about her daughter Irma who struggles to love her son, Willem.
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Willem was born kind and beautiful. He was soft and was often called gay for being himself. His mother's boyfriend sends him over to a camp by the name New Dawn run by a General who promises to turn guys into men. My heart broke into two when I read Willem's story. The atrocity of the rules implied by the General is horrible. Per the author's note, such camps are still in existence and it pains me to know that kids are still being sent into those for training. All the three stories are interlinked and this was my favourite part. It was very intelligent on the author's part to come up with something so educational and yet such an engaging read.
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This one is for all the people who love History.
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4.5/5.
~
Thank you for this copy @bloomsburyindia and @mrdamianbarr.
~
"In the water, in the dark. It doesn’t matter whose fingers find whose toes. Nobody can see. The stars are saying nothing." - Damian Barr.
~
I had often heard the term 'Boer War' but I never tried to educate myself about it. I'll forever be thankful for this book in teaching me so many important things related to that horrible time of 1901 when humanity was dead. When the British waged war over South African Republic and the Orange Free State, thousands of innocents were murdered and tortured. You will be safe here is a historical fiction that explains in detail about the concentration camps that Boers were put into by the British after they scorched all the farms.
~
The story is split into three timelines - 1901, 1976 and 2010. The first part talks about a Boer woman, Sarah Van Der Watt who is put into the camp with her six year old son and neighbours. Sarah maintains a diary in which she notes down the horrors of the camp where people died like flies everyday. She addresses all of those to her husband who is out fighting the war. She talks about the poisoned meat, lack of medicines, lack of sanitary facility and everything that turned people into a weaker form of themselves. The second part talks about a woman Rayna who has two children out of wedlock and raises them as a single mother. The third talks about her daughter Irma who struggles to love her son, Willem.
~
Willem was born kind and beautiful. He was soft and was often called gay for being himself. His mother's boyfriend sends him over to a camp by the name New Dawn run by a General who promises to turn guys into men. My heart broke into two when I read Willem's story. The atrocity of the rules implied by the General is horrible. Per the author's note, such camps are still in existence and it pains me to know that kids are still being sent into those for training. All the three stories are interlinked and this was my favourite part. It was very intelligent on the author's part to come up with something so educational and yet such an engaging read.
~
This one is for all the people who love History.
~
4.5/5.