In the Shadow of the Khmer Rouge

Forty-five years have passed since the end of Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia in 1979. Even so, the misery, death and destruction wrought in the name of revolution on a terrified population during the 1970s are still remembered. Now, a new voice is given to these memories in this compelling memoir written clearly and with unwavering honesty by a child survivor of the catastrophe that engulfed Cambodia. Muy Lang's memoir begins by recalling a gentle life enjoyed by a young girl and her Sino-Cambodian family in Phnom Penh. With the fall of the city to the Khmer Rouge and its brutal emptying, the country descended into a utopian hell in which fantasist economic ideas were enforced with deadly, revolutionary fervour. Within three years, Muy Lang was completely alone; tragically, the seven other members of her family were all dead. This is more than an account of how the author survived nearly four years of starvation, sickness, brutality, torture and threatened death in the Cambodian countryside and how ultimately she escaped to Thailand – but only after an earlier escape ended when Thai troops drove refugees back into Cambodia. Muy Lang was amongst the first group of refugees to navigate a treacherous descent from the border through the landmine-infested Dângrêk Mountains. The memoir pays tribute to her immediate family and other war victims who shared their stories with Muy Lang, preserving their memories with care and reverence. It offers future generations a personal reflection on themes such as displacement, loss of cultural identity, hope, and resilience in the face of unimaginable circumstances. The result is a rare treasure.

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