In life, there are certain people who God decides that they should go through traumatic and harrowing life experiences- knowing that they will emerge strong and, just to use the much-abused cliché- live to tell the tale. And Andile Gaelesiwe is one such person- who has seen it all, and came out not only strong but to serve as an inspiration to humanity.
In Remembering, Andile courageously recounts and lay bare her painful childhood experiences in full. And she does this to not only show how life has dealt with her harshly but to help everyone find inspiration and healing from her story.
Now, throughout the years, many of us have heard snippets of Andile’s traumatic childhood experiences- where she told a story of how she was sexually assaulted by her own biological father at a very young age.
However, perusing the pages of this book, Andile- using a frank township lingo, openly and fully recounts that traumatic experience in full, and also other sexual violations which followed after that in her life.
Now, I need to admit that Andile’s strong truly broke every fibre in my body, and my mind is still tingling from the aftershock of having consumed the full story.
However, it is her courage, bravery, tenacity to live her life to the fullest, and making a success out of it in the face of such harrowing life experiences, where I find inspiration from Andile’s story.
As much as this book is retelling Andile’s old wounds in one part, the most part is about inspiration, living life, finding healing, and making a success out of life.
Inside the pages of this book, there’s life, inspiration, education (for both women and men), love, and all that you need to overcome life’s tragedies and flourish.
Remembering will save so many souls- and help those who are battered, broken, hurt, disappointed, betrayed find the necessary healing and enjoy their life to the fullest.
With this book, Andile has once proven that she was born to heal all of us who are broken with her gift of life.
Remembering will have terrific and far-reaching resonances. I like the fact that Andile used her everyday language to tell her story- and this just makes you- the reader feels like she is just telling you that story alone.
I was hooked from the first to the last sentence.
This book is moving, raw, honest, gripping, and it is a life-affirming read. Once you start, you will have difficulty putting it down. Remembering is unputdownable.