{"product_id":"living-with-strangers-healing-a-wounded-heart-in-a-distant-land-a-memoir-9798896361886","title":"Living with Strangers: Healing a Wounded Heart in a Distant Land--A Memoir","description":"\u003cb\u003eA debut memoirist's hopeful and brave coming-of-age story of surviving a turbulent youth--neglected first by her father, then as a teen in foster care--and going on to find a sense of belonging and a new lease on life in a semi-nomadic Kenyan community.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEager to leave her life as a foster child behind, Robin Rosenbluth travels to a remote village in northern Kenya called Songa in 1973. As a white college student, she arrives in a desert-like environment to teach elementary school to Samburu and Rendille children. While befriending the residents, she learns to live in a mud hut, survive without modern conveniences, skin a cow, and kill a chicken for dinner. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRobin weaves stories about the challenges she faced growing up--her mother's early death, her father's abandonment, and her years in foster care--with her account of her time in Songa. As the only Jewish resident in a village influenced by Christian missionaries, she strives to fit in: adapting to the intense heat, endless insects, and close encounters with wild animals. Over time, she develops close friendships with a local teacher and a woman who becomes her surrogate mother, participates in local customs, and makes a place for herself in Songa. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOffering vivid insight into why a love-starved nineteen-year-old from New York City would choose to relocate to the other side of the world, \u003ci\u003eLiving with Strangers\u003c\/i\u003e is a poignant chronicle of one young woman's search for a place to belong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e She Writes Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/27\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798896361886\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Robin Rosenbluth","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53195257544885,"sku":"9798896361886","price":16.14,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/9798896361886.jpg?v=1788273560","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/living-with-strangers-healing-a-wounded-heart-in-a-distant-land-a-memoir-9798896361886","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}