From Phnom Penh to Paradise by Var Hong Ashe

This is the true story of a Cambodian woman, now living locally in the South East of England, surviving the horrors under Pol Pot. The book has a short foreword by the Lord Elton, who was a committed Christian and led a prayer group in Parliament for many years.

As a new Christian, Var, a teacher, and her family, including two young children, are driven from their family home in Phnom Penh, as it falls to the Khmer rouge. For the next four years, the family are forced to different rural locations in a life of brutal servitude to the regime. Whilst the horrors of the regime are apparent, the book does not overly dwell on them.

The young faith of Var and her love for her family are like lights shining across the years of darkness and despair. Eventually, the family barely escaped with their lives to a camp in Thailand, and from there, with the help of Christians, to the UK.

The book is well written and highly readable. Recommended in particular if you know people who came through this sad period of Cambodian history from 1975 to 1979, in which about 25% of the population died.