The Jacaranda tree, which stands in Eusebie's garden in Kigali, is the centrepiece of the story hiding family secrets. This is an extraordinary novel about how a family deals with terrible events, and how the trauma of genocide affects even those who were not born at the time. It's a disturbing but essential book, especially because of current political happenings. I couldn't put it down, even though reading it was extremely uncomfortable.
Sitting next to Eusebie on a sofa, I noticed her hands begin to tremble. She removed the photo from the envelope, and I instantly recognised Eusebie's big smile in the black and white image. Beside her, as if frozen, a man and four children - one boy and three girls - were staring intently into the lens. A cry of pain startled me. My mother and Rosalie quickly ralled around Euesebie, who was pressing the photo to her belly while sobbing uncontrollably. At the end of the corridor, the baby started crying. There I was, stuck in the middle of the living room, with no clue how to react.
