The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper

Helene Cooper lived a sheltered childhood in a very wealthy part of Monrovia, Liberia called Sugar Beach, where all the wealthy Congo people, that is the non-natives, lived. She lived with her mother and father, sister Marlene, and various other extended family members such as Vicky, Janice, John Bull and many more. She grew up in a very americanized household and enjoyed all the privileges money could buy, including a bounty of faithful servants. Helene's parents even adopted a foster child from a local native village to be her playmate. At first the two don't see eye to eye but soon they're the best of friends. Yes, the Cooper life was one of sheer perfection, up until a point that is. As Helene and her siblings grew older their parents divorced and the Liberian government was taken over by a military coup lead by Samuel Doe. At first the torn apart family, will daddy no longer in the picture and family members scattered, tried to maintain their previous life at Sugar Beach. Soon enough though the soldiers had come for them and in exchange for not killing the whole family in one swoop the soldiers gang raped Helene's mother. Shortly after the harsh reality of Liberia's state of affairs set in the family fled to the united states, Tennessee to be exact. Though life in the U.S. was at first a hard transition Helene goes on to achieve many of her dreams despite obstacles she encounters. However, there was always an empty void in her heart; her sister Eunice didn't make the transition with them and readers will be shocked by how different her life would have been if she had. In the mood for a true life story of great complexity, harsh realities and the power of familial ties? pick up a copy now.

There couldn't have been a more perfect way for Helene Cooper to shed light on what occurred in her home nation of Liberia than with her autobiographical story of childhood, loss and gain. She made it to the prestigious post of New York Times White House Correspondent, so clearly as readers will see throughout the book, she was right all along about following her instincts, when she started to realize what a passion she had for writing and journalism.