So unfocused is the author's account of her humanitarian work in
Sarajevo that the "lost children" of the subtitle literally become
lost in what is primarily a tale of one woman's Bosnian adventures.
Blackman was a successful public-relations consultant in Chicago
when she was jolted from her pampered existential stupor by footage
of suffering children in Bosnia. Reaching deep into her dormant
Jewish past, she began to think of Bosnia and its Muslims as the
victims of a modern-day Holocaust. She decided to act. With a
borrowed flak jacket, her savings in her pockets, and only the most
naive and abstract notion of her goals, she headed for Sarajevo. A
ten-day stay expanded to eight months as the author, her own
favorite heroine, decided to battle the forces of indifference and
incompetence (code words, in Blackman-ese, for the UN). She was the
catalyst behind numerous rescue operations, from evacuating sick
babies and children to finding a source for salt to keep Saravejo's
bakery going. Nevertheless, Blackman's victories over red tape is
only part of the story. From the start it is clear that her
departure for Sarajevo is also a personal journey of discovery and
growth. This aspect of Blackman's narrative ultimately dominates;
her disjointed and self-indulgent chronicle includes lengthy
passages on her discovery of the "true meaning of friendship and
love" amid hardship. While Blackman does capture the generosity and
warmth of Sarajevo's citizens, she presents an uninformed view of
the overall political situation. She persists in viewing the war,
the result of complex historical and ethnic tensions, as "a
clear-cut case of good versus evil." Her continuous attacks on the
UN are jarring and unconvincing. And stylistic problems, most
prominently in the form of abundant cliches, serve as constant
irritations. An unpolished chronicle by a self-conscious do-gooder.
(Kirkus Reviews)
It was the summer of 1993, at the height of the genocidal Serbian
siege of the Bosnian city of Sarajevo. No longer able to bear the
television images of tearful wounded children desperate for medical
care, a young Chicago woman decided to take action. She flew to
Sarajevo determined to do whatever she could to help the children.
Ellen Blackman's planned ten-day trip turned into an eight-month
ordeal - and a triumph of will. Ellen shared the tragedies and
occasional triumphs of a proud, brave people whose universe was
crumbling around them while a seemingly indifferent world stood by.
Harvest in the Snow tells of dodging bullets in Sniper Alley,
smuggling relief supplies over hostile borders, and struggling just
to live in the nightmare world of a nation at war with itself. And
miraculously, despite tremendous obstacles, she got the children
out. Ellen was the catalyst for the much-publicized emergency
medical evacuations of children that you saw on television. This is
her dramatic story.
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