Teera wonders how Yara could have lived through the deaths of all her children: "Perhaps the question isn't how anyone can live like this...but what makes them want to live in a world indifferent to their struggle?" How would you answer?

In meeting Yaya, Teera wonders how the woman could have lived through the deaths of all thirteen of her children during the Khmer Rouge period. She thinks, "Perhaps the question isn't how anyone can live like this, bearing a lifetime of cruelty and deprivation, but what makes them want to live in a world indifferent to their struggle?" How would you answer this question?

Yara is certainly a tragic character, who has chosen to be a mother to the many left motherless. She has transcended her personal loss and embraced her life in terms of what she can offer others. She is an inspiration to all.

As a mother, I would certainly move forward and put up a fight to have any members of my family persevere. Yara does this for her family and others. She opens her arms to all as a show of strength and healing. She is to be greatly admired.

Yara is an inspiration. Though she lived through the deaths of her children, she becomes mother to those who have survived and to future generations. Her message is one of hope and survival to those in her care.

What makes someone want to live in a world indifferent to their struggle; the will to survive and to do good in the face of adversity. She was one special person indeed.

I appreciate how Lois responded above, "She has transcended her personal loss and embraced her life in terms of what she can offer others. She is an inspiration to all." It seems to me that each of the main characters is actually doing the same thing, to the best of his/her ability and in their own time.

Yara is the hope in this book. She has suffered the deaths of all her children, yet has made herself the "mother" to all who need a mother. She has strength and courage and is an inspiration to everyone.

In the novel, Teera asks the question, Why does such suffering recur again and again? Like her, I feel we have yet to honor the dead with an answer. We cannot hope to understand, we cannot hope to change, if we are not willing to see suffering in others that is equal to or greater than our own.