First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
SynopsisPlot
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.
Story
About this book
Loung Ung was five years old and living in Phnom Penh when the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, took control of Cambodia in April 1975. Her father held a high-ranking position in the government, which made the entire family a target. Within days the city was emptied, and the Ung family was forced to leave their home and begin moving through the countryside, eventually splitting apart to improve their chances of survival.
Loung ended up in a work camp designated for orphans, where she was trained as a child soldier. Her siblings were separated into different labor camps across the country. The memoir recounts these years through Loung's perspective as a young girl navigating forced labor, hunger, and the constant threat of violence under a regime that sought to reshape Cambodian society by dismantling families, education, and urban life.
Loung Ung was one of seven children. The book follows the family from their earlier life in the capital through the years of displacement and separation that followed the Khmer Rouge takeover. It is written as a first-person account, grounded in specific places and events rather than broad historical summary, and draws its detail from the daily realities of a child caught inside a political upheaval.
