I first heard of this book in a Reader's Digest section, where excerpts of this book were published. Rosamund Carr was also mentioned in the book and later in the movie "Gorillas in the Mist" written by Dian Fossey PhD, as one of the most warm and hospitable person in the world. I have always planned to visit Rwanda and therefore bought this book to get some background information about this country and its people. This book is an account of living for more than half a century in a country, which is still undeveloped, where the majority of the people doesn't have access to medical facilities, sometimes not even to basics like clean water or food to eat. Rosamund Carr is one of Africa's heroines in this century. She mainly describes her life in Rwanda, her struggles and daily problems in running a pyrethrum farm near Lake Kivu, one of Africa's pearls. Her description of Rwanda's genocide provides a better understanding for this event than newspapers ever did.
After the genocide she returned to Africa to run an orphanage for both Hutu and Tutsi children. If there were more Roz Carrs in Africa, probably this continent would not face its current problems.

I work in an independent book store. For a year I have been communicating with a Rwandan woman, a Tutsi who survived the genocide and now would like to come to America with her 6 year old daughter to study Social Work. I have been reading as much as I can about Africa, Rwanda in particular. I read Philip Gourevitch's "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: stories from Rwanda," and Julian Pierce's novel "Speak Rwanda." Of course I devoured Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible." Then I noticed this biography "Land of a Thousand Hills, My Life in Rwanda," by Roz Carr. I was totally captivated by this incredible woman and completely taken in by her story of her life in Africa over the past 50 years. Rosamond Halsey Carr went with her husband to live in the Belgian Congo in 1949, 5 years before Barbara Kingsolver's fictitious family. As time went on, even though her marriage did not last, she chose to stay in this part of the world making it her home. She moved to Rwanda when the white settlers were forced out of Zaire in the early 1960's. Not only did she survive, she is still there, at age 88 running an orphanage for children who lost their families during the genocide. This book describes as nothing else has the reality of 20th century life in the Congo and Rwanda from the perspective of an "ordinary" white settler. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

It's about time! Roz Carr is well known in Africa (and much of the rest of the world) for her amazing dedication to the orphanes of Rwanda. Her book gives readers a unique view of her strength, joy, trials and courage. Her early years in Rwanda, her friendship with the late Dr. Dian Fossey and her love of Rwanda shine through in this loving biography. This book has anticipated for months. Thanks should also go to Ann Halsey for bringing Rosamond Carr's life story to the world.