Tracy Kidder’s book, briefly, is the non-fiction tale of Deogratias. Raised in Burundi, Deo lives a nearly idyllic life until the outbreak of ethnic violence in his country replaces Wordsworth’s “of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower” with a living hell that makes Dante’s Inferno look like a pleasant winter destination resort. Deo, a Tutsi third year

medical student, flees Burundi, arriving at age 24 in New York City with $200 in his pocket, the clothes on his back, and his will to survive. Kidder artfully alternates between Deo’s fight for survival in the United States and scenes of the genocidal massacres

that Deo witnesses in Burundi. Deogratias emerges as a complex

and rich personality, more a testament to human resilience than a hero (though certainly not lacking in heroic qualities).

With serious books, and this is one, sometimes I get the sensation that I’ve put myself in harness, and in the effort to get the fruits of my labor I will be forced to trudge forward until the job is done. Strength in What Remains Behind is the opposite: once attached to the book by the first few pages, it will draw you wide-eyed and enthralled rapidly towards its conclusion.