Fall Like Rain: A Story of Renewal and Redemption in Cambodia

by Nell Corbly, Ajith Fernando (Foreword)

Masters student Sophy Seng is looking for a good resume builder, so she takes an internship in her parents' birth country of Cambodia in Southeast Asia. As she assimilates to this exotic land and its people, she's confronted with the true story of a young Cambodian girl. It's a story she cannot ignore; a story that changes her way of thinking. A story of one young woman's journey from fear to freedom.

Born in the early 1980s to survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide, Kunthea can't figure out exactly what happened and why no one will talk about it. Surrounded by a family still shell-shocked by the horror, she's determined to make sense of life, all while struggling merely to survive.

When Sophy discovers Kunthea's lost diary, the puzzle of the Cambodian girl's life comes together piece by piece, drawing Sophy deeper into her world. Confronted with questions she'd never considered asking, Sophy gets much more than she'd bargained for in this six-month internship.

Based on a true story, Fall like Rain is a revealing of the dark realities of poverty; of belief systems rooted in lies, and the ultimate power of truth to stamp out the darkness.

Fall Like Rain is for anyone interested in stories of resilience and courage, foreign cultures and lands, poverty alleviation, global mission and development.

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 12, 2022

Reviews

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an extremely moving and eloquent novel. It’s told from the viewpoint of a 28 year old American woman, Sophy, the daughter of native Cambodian immigrant parents. While doing an internship in Cambodia, Sophy discovers the diary of a Cambodian girl, Kunthea, with entries beginning when Kunthea was five years old in Cambodia during the 1980s. This book grabbed my interest from the very first two pages, when Sophy finds the lost diary. She learns about Kunthea’s life, and in the process, discovers her own lost heritage. The story is beautifully told and provides a vivid picture of the Khmer people of Cambodia and their extreme hardships. It describes the experiences of Kunthea, a girl who had to grow up much too fast from the blissful innocence of her childhood years. The novel, which shockingly is based on a true story, is very eloquently told – the prose often reads like poetry, with beautiful imagery. It’s a story that has elements of sadness and joyousness, a very inspirational narrative about impoverishment, survival, family, and rejuvenation. It left me in awe, and I hope others will have the opportunity to read this wondrous novel.