Other Side Of Silence Book

Hanna suffered a lifetime of sexual abuse, first at the orphanage in Germany where she was raised and later in the homes of the families she was sent to work for. Finally an opportunity comes along to escape it all and she accepts an opportunity to be taken by boat to German South West Africa (now Namibia) to begin a new life. By an error in the passenger records, she is recorded as Hanna X. The trip isn't a fresh start; the abuse continues. After landing at Swakopmund and being passed over as an unsuitable wife, Hanna is loaded onto a train bound for Frauenstein, an outpost brothel where the soldiers can have their way. It is while on the train when she refuses the advances of a German officer that the abuse becomes physical and permanently disfiguring. Hanna tries to continue on with life, but when a young girl, Katja, comes to Frauenstein and an officer tries to have his way with her, Hanna goes to Katja's defense. Soon after that, Hanna decides to leave, determined by the rage within her to seek revenge for what had been done to her.
The dark side of Namibia's history. From the notes at the beginning and the end, it's clear that the story is rooted in actual events of the early 1900's. Hanna X and the German officer, Hauptmann Bohlke are both historical names of record. Much of the events in the tale are the fictional weaving of a story. I'd picked this up because I'd really enjoyed the other Brink book I've read, "A Dry White Season". While neither of them is light, easy reading, I enjoyed the latter one much more than this one. The trauma and abuse she suffers is horrific (thankfully not graphically described) and I kept wishing that there was a way for her to find peace. The ending was not at all what I expected. I'm not sorry that I read it; but it's not a book I'd care to re-read.
Jan 2014 changed rating from 2 to 3 stars because I got thinking of it as an important read, even if it wasn't a pleasant one.