Author: Ruth Mantile 

Language: English 

ISBN: 978-1-77605-620-0 

Genre: Non-fiction 

An eye-opening, true-life narrative filled with raw, cut-throat and uncomfortable truths as experienced by an innocent young South African girl who was neglected and abused by her mother and raped by people she thought she could trust. It’s the story of her life – from her abusive childhood to a tumultuous, roller coaster life as a teenager in the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) training camps of Lesotho and Angola. 

The purpose of this book is to show that no matter what your circumstances are, the choices you make can build or destroy you. In the first few pages, the author asks: “Does the world still believe that one’s upbringing determines one’s destiny? Does this narrative say that, if you were born from a rich family, you would also be rich, or if your mother abandoned you at childbirth, you would also abandon your children?”

And then, through the thorough relay of her life as a young girl, Ruth gives assurance to every woman, man and child who are experiencing – or have experienced – abuse of any kind, that there is life after trauma when you love and believe in yourself. Her story encourages readers to rise from the ashes like a phoenix, just as she did.

The book also gives a glimpse into the camp life and the camaraderie of MK members training to fight for their cause: The end of apartheid in South Africa.