One of Entertainment Weekly's top 10 narrative travel books

A Boston Globe bestseller

"I was moved and inspired by Monique. The friendship between the author, a young Peace Corps volunteer, and the Malian midwife is one of the great gifts of the book and proof of the power of women's relationships to recreate the world." " —Anita Diamant , author of international bestseller The Red Tent

"There have been many accounts of studying people from other cultures, but few of actually being friends with them. Anyone who is curious about what such a friendship feels like from the inside should read this respectful but intimate account." —Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

"A respectful, unsentimental portrait . . . a poignant and powerful book."
— Kirkus, Starred Review

Monique and the Mango Rains is the true story of the life and death of a remarkable West African midwife, seen through the eyes of a young Peace Corps Volunteer who worked side-by-side with her, birthing babies and caring for mothers, in a remote, impoverished village. It is a rare tale of friendship that reaches beyond borders to vividly and irrevocably unite another woman’s world with our own.

Email of the month, May 2008
"You tell your story and that of Monique in a very honest, non-judgmental, non-romanticizing way. I've read the book as a true tribute to the women of Mali and especially to Monique Dembele. I thank you for the story you told."
-- a reader in the Netherlands

December 2007: Mali Trip Delivers Medical Supplies Kris and her husband John spent two weeks in Mali, West Africa where they served as Peace Corps Volunteers from 1989-1991. They visited friends, delivered medical supplies, and checked in on the clinic they are helping to fund through Monique and the Mango Rains. Click here to see a music video made from their trip.