From Publishers Weekly
In 77 narratives, commentaries, essays and poems, women writers address the timely issue of women's human rights. Six closely linked sections in this groundbreaking international anthology explore themes of war, exile, imprisonment, censorship, domestic and political violence, courage, protest and resistance. A powerful historical doc- ument, the collection includes pieces by both familiar and less well-known writers, who personalize the suffering that inevitably attends those who live in the shadow of war and tyranny. More than an earnest sampler of atrocities and defiance, the book attests to the power of the word as an effective weapon in the fight for social and political rights. In Agosin's words, "to write under adversity is to actively resist pain and betrayal, but it is also a form of denying horror." Whether Nadine Gordimer decrying the brutality of South African apartheid, Slavenka Drakulic asking insightful questions about ethnic cleansing in her Bosnian homeland or Aung San Suu Kyi's bold defiance in the face of imprisonment in Burma, the compilation succeeds as a powerful indictment of human rights violations. Without unnecessary fingerpointing or posturing, it effectively forces readers to rethink their views on social as well as political justice for womenAnot just locally, but globally.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In communities where interest in global human rights and Amnesty International is strong, this collection of women's prose and poetry about the struggle to maintain those rights should have appeal. Wellesley professor Agosin recently received the United Nations Leadership Award for Human Rights; a portion of the book's profits will go to Amnesty International. Agosin's selections cover war, imprisonment and censorship, childhood, refugees and exiles, domestic and political violence, and resistance and refusal. Some authors' names will be familiar to many readers--e.g., Marguerite Duras, Christa Wolf, June Jordan, Barbara Kingsolver, Anna Akhmatova, Aung San Suu Kyi, Leslie Marmon Silko, Adrienne Rich, Nawal El Sa'adawi, Muriel Rukeyser, Grace Paley, Petra Kelly, Nadine Gordimer, and Isabel Allende--but most of these authors are relatively unknown, speaking from the heart to "bear witness to human tragedy" and to urge those who read their words to take action. A difficult read, but essential to make the 50-year-old United Nations Declaration of Human Rights a reality. Mary Carroll
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
