Ghosts in the Forest

By: Corinne Purtill

Narrated by: Christine Marshall

Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2004, 34 men, women, and children stepped out of a Southeast Asian rainforest and presented themselves as refugees from violence engulfing their native Cambodia. They did not know that the war they were fleeing had in fact ended - 25 years earlier. Corinne Purtill was one of the first journalists to meet the families upon their incredible return to society. Years later, she returned to Cambodia to learn the truth about their time on the run. What she found was a darker and more complicated tale than the one they first shared, a story of terror, isolation, fierce loyalty, appalling choices, and murder. The result is a story that examines the unyielding human need for family and connection and the meaning of survival.

Corinne Purtill is a journalist who has reported around the world for publications including Quartz, GlobalPost, CNN, Salon and the Cambodia Daily. She lives in California with her family.

©2015 Corinne Purtill (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Hiding in the Forest

This was an interesting take of a group of ethnic minorities from Cambodia who fled the brutal Khemer Rouge to live in the jungle. They lived in the jungle for decades, escaping a war that ended over 25 years ago. Their story of survival is incredible. So was their return to civilization. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audio book. A great short story.

Peek into a very different world

I listened to this book on audible plus because I needed a non-fiction book to fulfill a competition requirement. I don't normally read non-fiction, so just the culture-shock itself was enough to knock one star off for me, and should not reflect on the content for those who do.

The narrator was just so-so. She has some strange intonation quirks that feel a little unnatural but don't quite take away from being able to focus on the story.

The story itself took a little while to figure out what it was doing. The first chapter felt a little scattered (and long), but the second was much tighter and the information flowed more concisely from there on.

The content itself is very interesting. I learned of the Khmer Rouge in school and heard briefly of the cataclysmic upheavals in Southeast Asia in the news, but being immersed in one person's specific story has a very different impact from a mention in a textbook or a minute on the news. Those details, the grassroots eye as opposed to the bird's eye view, truly brings home not just the horrors that people in that part of the world experienced, but also just a very different life, a very different history, and a very different world from the pampered bubble where I live.

Another Kindle Single Lesson

Okay, well, once again a Kindle Single has opened my eyes to something that I knew very little about. What a fascinating story that touches all human emotions.

Compelling really life story.

Besides the narrator's pacing and at times rather irritating intonation it's still a reasonable performance and telling of a truly unique and courageous, true story of incredible human bravery and determination despite incredibly perilous odds.