It is 1994. Rosie—a 17-year-old Irish girl–has been sent to look after her Rwandan grandmother. Callie—an 18-year-old Canadian girl—is looking forward to volunteering for an aid organisation in Rwanda. Both are going to Rwanda to escape their lives at home. Neither Callie nor Rosie is prepared for Rwanda. Nor do they want to see how similar they are, despite their different backgrounds and experiences. They are both struggling with questions of where they fit, and who they truly are.

When the Rwandan president’s plane is shot down, sparking the most horrific genocide in history, they are forced to face fundamental truths. Rosie must learn to lead, and fight to survive. Callie must accept that she cannot make the world as she would wish it. And then there is Blessing—the 11-year-old Rwandan who wins the heart of both Rosie and Callie…

Already familiar with Africa, Kim Hood travelled to Rwanda in 2017, after extensive research on the genocide, to see where some of the worst atrocities in recent history had occurred, and to try to understand: Why do we forget so quickly?