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Give Me This Mountain
Helen Roseveare Book Review

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Plot Summary of Give Me This Mountain
"'Give Me This Mountain' is the British title of the autobiography of Dr. Helen Roseveare, graduate in medicine from Newnham College, University of Cambridge, in the late 1940's. A well known missionary doctor and author, with several of her works still in print, she worked in the north-eastern province of the Belgian Congo with the Heart of Africa Mission in the 1950's and 60's. She established a substantial pioneer medical service and assisted the churches before Congo's independence in 1960, and continued there for some years after, at a time when many had to flee for their lives.

She tells her story in the most down to earth terms, from playing cricket for the ladies' university side (a liberated woman even then), to her return to Britain after five months as a hostage in rebel terrorist hands. Her completely candid account is an antidote to any delusion that missionaries are saints who float about an inch off the ground, who generally see a blinding light from heaven when they receive 'the call'. She almost failed in missionary school, although they were keen to send out a doctor, her personal failings almost sank her. Her own admitted stubbornness, pride, know-it-all attitude, and inability to work with others made her a liability. They finally decision to send her overseas came when an incident with a broken washing line proved that she at least had a sense of humour in the face of adversity! Physical dangers and her personal ambition in the Congo often almost sank her, but her faith and hard work brought her through. Her story is one of bright mountains, conquered after experiencing the dark valleys and learning to give the glory to God."

Michael JR Jose, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Give Me This Mountain
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession: - religious figure
Ethnic/Relig. of subject (inside) - British
Gender/Class story? - woman's story
Job/profession/poverty story Yes
Kind of living: - pioneering in countryside
Phys disability/mental struggle? Yes
Struggle with - general search for meaning
If this is a culture clash: - visiting a different culture
Ethnic/regional/gender Yes
ethnic of society (outside) - Black African

Subject of Biography
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - doctor
Age: - 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental Yes
Eccentric: - emotionally unstable
Biography of famous person? Yes
Ethnicity - White
Nationality - British
How sensitive is this person? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other people
Physique - physically sick

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Africa Yes
Kind of Africa: - Black Africa
Jungles? Yes
Century: - 1930's-1950's

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Book makes you feel? - spiritual
Is book humorous? Yes
If humorous, kind of humor - gentle
Writer's slant towards subject: - very favorable
Story of entire life, or part? - story of nearly entire life
Autobiography? Yes
Pictures/Illustrations? - A few 1-5 B&W
How much dialogue in bio? - little dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 51%-75% of book
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