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I have learned from reading and life that there are deep seated reasons that drive people from their western homeland to third or second world countries. The working out of this was one of several things that fascinated me about Clash of Innocents. Oscar Wilde famously said he never really felt Irish until he moved to London. Citizens of colonial countries know that those who leave their home to move to a third world country, for the best or the worst of reasons, are often escaping from a trauma or a hatred of their home land. No perfectly adjusted happy westerner gives up her or his comforts without a very powerful personal reason, often one they do not fully understand. Many seek an answer to their differences from "normal" people at home in a place where people don't judge them by the old standards. We see this for sure in the very troubled Amanda who shows up one day to volunteer. Deborah knows lots of westerns, often Americans, show up to volunteer for a few days to score Karmic points or assuage feelings of guilt knowing the terrible suffering that America helped bring down on the people of Cambodia. She has learned to just let the volunteers do simple things, let them donate, but not to count on them. Amanda is different and soon becomes very much a part of life in the center.
There is a lot of perfectly done dialogue in Clash of Innocents. We learn a lot about life in Cambodia. We get to know and care about the children in the home. When Deborah's adopted daughter ponders whether or not she should go to Kent State University in Ohio, on a full scholarship,
where Deborah graduated at the time of the Kent State Killing of students by the National Guard (1970) I was captivated waiting to see what will happen. We also see Deborah's division when her daughter passes from adolescent to attractive young woman and feels any mother's worry and happiness.
Guiney paints a marvelous portrait of the Cambodian countryside on a beach trip. Her descriptions of food made me hungry. This passage motivated me to look at my Lonely Planet Guide to Cambodia:
From this passage you can see for your self the marvelous prose style of the author.
There is romance, tragedy, lots of good times and festivals in this work as well as fascinating minor characters.
I was very glad to have read Clash of Innocents and I think most readers would feel the same way.
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I first got to know Sue when we talked about posting on The Reading Life a series of twenty poems and short stories by children being helped by The Anjali House in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This turned out to be one of the things I am most proud of in my 4.5 years of blogging.
Sue Guiney's Introductory Post -Project Director - contains important links
My Q and A with Dana Hui Lim author of Mother and the Tiger- A Memoir of the Killing Fields. - essential background information -also contains a link to my review of her superb book.
I am really looking forward to reading Sue's next book, also set in Cambodia, Out of the Ruins.
You can learn a lot more about Sue and her work on her blog
shauna Gilligan has just done a very interesting interview with Sue
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