As evidence emerged of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the outside world reeled in shock. What could have motivated these individual and collective acts of evil? In 1998, Véronique Tadjo traveled to Rwanda to try to find out. She started with the premise that what happened in Rwanda concerns us all: “We need to understand. Our humanity is in peril.”

The Shadow of Imana is a reminder that humankind the world over is capable of genocide. Records of what the author saw—sites of massacres, corpses, weapons dumps—are combined with personal stories of traumatized returnees, bereaved survivors, rape victims, orphans, lawyers faced with the impossible task of doing justice, prisoners. But Tadjo’s story goes beyond mere reportage of death and cruelty. Her poetically wrought account incorporates traditional tales, explores the spiritual legacy of the genocide, and uncovers a healing vitality as well as a commitment to forgiveness.

Véronique Tadjo was born in Paris and grew up in Côte d’Ivoire. The Shadow of Imana has been translated from the French by Véronique Wakerley.