I told my friend about
Inspector Singh In Cambodia book and how I was sadden by the cruelty of the Khmer Rouge soldiers. She the passed me this book. It's a real story about how Denise Affonco survived the Khmer Rouge regime.
She was born and brought up in Phnom Penh to a Vietnamese mother and a French father. She worked in the French Embassy and married to Seng a Cambodia of Chinese origin who is a communist sympathiser
She was trapped in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge came in power. She had the chance to get out of the country with her children as she is a French citizen but that did not include her husband who is a Cambodian. In the end she stayed, rather that to split up the family Moreover, her armchair Communist husband had convinced her that life would soon return to normal when Khmer Rouge wins.
When the Khmer Rouge came in and they evacuated everyone from the city of Phnom Penh and everything was done in the name of Angkar. They were moved from place to place and soon Seng was taken away never to be seen again. Later, her son also taken away from her to do the work of a man. She also had to work and they were not given enough food to eat. Many died.
In fact, maybe that is the purpose of the whole thing. To work and starve them to death as their life does not worth the cost of a single bullet. Poor Denise had to see her sister-in-law, niece, nephew and her daughter die due to lack of food and medication. She also nearly died for Malaria.
This has been a difficult book to rad as I know of the ending already. I guess, war brings out the worse in human beings
