Naomi Benaron's debut novel won the Bellwether Prize, created and funded by author Barbara Kingsolver to promote fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. A more fitting novel would be hard to find.
Running the Rift follows 10 years in the life of Nkuba Jean Patrick, a Tutsi in Rwanda at the height of the Hutu-Tutsi conflict. Jean Patrick is a phenomenal runner, specializing in the 800-meter race. His dream is to go to the Olympics. He holds fast to the idea that becoming an Olympic winner for Rwanda will have a unifying effect and deliver his people from violence. He listens to Coach, glories in the strenuous workouts he devises and keeps his eye on the prize.
Jean Patrick's entire focus is on running; he's largely oblivious to the situation in his country. As a consequence, he is constantly being robbed and attacked by Hutu bullies, unwilling to believe that people who were once his friends are now enemies. Interwoven with Jean Patrick's story is a retelling of the long history of strife between the two tribes after many years of living together peacefully. Jean Patrick's ability to shut out reality comes to an abrupt halt when the Hutu genocide against the Tutsis begins.
His beloved Bea and her family tell him to run to Burundi. They are Hutu and believe that they will be safe. He runs and runs and is finally found by his geology professor, Jonathan, and given a ride to safety. It is never clear to the reader what the distances are between villages or from Jean Patrick's home to the university, but it becomes important as his usual mode of transportation is shank's mare.
What happens to Jean Patrick's family, to Bea and her family and to so many of Jean Patrick's friends is for the reader to discover. There are few happy endings in a country ravaged by genocide. Benaron is an advocate for African refugees in her community, has worked extensively with genocide survivor groups in Rwanda and is an Ironman triathlete. Her credentials are definitely in order for telling this tale. --Valerie Ryan
Shelf Talker: Runner Jean Patrick dreams of going to the Olympics, but his hopes, and those of his family and friends, are altered by Rwandan genocide.