Skip to main content

Broken Glass: A Young Girl Named Ginger by Utara Norng: book review

 


Broken Glass: A Young Girl Named Ginger – sex, drugs and gambling on love in today’s Cambodia by Utara Norng (2010) is set in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, from 1975 to the 2000s.

 

It is based on the true story of a mother and daughter, narrated by each of them alternately. Both of them are known to the author Utara Norng, and remain anonymous. 

 

Both women are survivors. Mother Malis is a survivor of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979: the three years, eight months and 20 days that changed the country. Sixteen-year-old daugther Ginger is a survivor of the late 1990s and 2000s when gangs and guns ruled Phnom Penh. 

 

Of her children, Malis says Ginger is the smartest and strangest. They disagree, argue, and fight. In a world where Malis fought to survive, she chose life. It seems that her bar-working, modeling (or sex working) daughter is associating with the wrong crowd and choosing to spiral downwards to addiction, crime, abortions, and an early death.  

 

Ginger says her mother doesn’t understand her, and Malis doesn’t understand how Ginger’s life got this way. Malis knows the barbaric history of her country, and Ginger doesn’t want to know – for she was born during the worst time in the country’s history. Ginger’s father is on the periphery. 

 

At rock bottom, the two become stronger together. 

 

I read this book while working in Cambodia. It is authentic and unembellished. The voices of Malis and Ginger are honest, insightful, and real. 


This is an interesting focus on history, struggle, survival, and the actions that break and make mother-daughter bonds. It is well-written, and worthy of a read because it crosses the invisible boundaries of past and present, and moves towards hope and healing.  






 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 


MARTINA NICOLLS

MartinaNicollsWebsite

Rainy Day Healing

Martinasblogs  

Publications

Facebook

Paris Website

Paris blogs

Animal Website

Flower Website

Global Gentlemanliness

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES 


MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilization, foreign aid audits and evaluations, and the author  of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce  (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more