Review:

Song of the nightingale

This is a remarkable book in which Helen Berhane tells her own story of persecution, imprisonment and torture in her native Eritrea. She was eventually released and sent to hospital due to severe ill-health, and then she escaped to Sudan, from where she went to live in Denmark. The narrative is pacey and gripping as the story moves from Berhane’s simple childhood into the dramatic show of strength between, on the one hand, her determined faith and willingness to suffer and, on the other hand, the brutal oppression of the Eritrean regime.

Berhane was not a fluent English speaker at the time of writing, but the text reads well and the narrative is clear. There is something particularly powerful in telling such a dramatic story without any sense of embellishment or over-emphasis. Part of the purpose of the book is to highlight the oppressive nature of the Eritrean regime and in this respect the book is a success. I strongly recommend it.

HIGH: This is a very good example of the suffering church.

 LOW: In places, the narrative is a little short of background contextual details.

Published by: Authentic