Reviews
“A riveting account of terrors executed by the Pinochet regime upon the Chilean people and Catholic
religious communities living among them. Osberger's narrative is heart-stopping. Her memoir witnesses to
the suffering and resilience of the Chilean people, to the heroic lives of her companions, and most movingly, of
her own encounter with the divine in the midst of life-threatening perils.”
Kathleen M. O’Connor, Columbia Theological Seminary
“In this gripping memoir, Kathy Osberger narrates her experience as a recent college graduate in 1975 when she was drawn into the courageous work of sisters, lay women, and clergy who stood up to the Pinochet dictatorship in defense of the lives of others. This story is an important chapter not only in Chile, but in the Catholic church and in the modern human rights movement." Phillip Berryman, Author, Latin America at 200: A New Introduction
"As a Chilean who was tortured then held for two years inside Pinochet's concentration camps, I embrace this memoir, told with truth and emotion. Chile's memory is reawakened and preserved by these stories of risk and solidarity." Mario Venegas, PhD, a retired chemist and founder of the Chicago Torture Justice Center and ChileAmigo Chicago.
“Two years into Pinochet’s reign of terror a 22-year-old enters his house of terrors. We meet nuns and
teachers whose ingenuity outsmarts Pinochet’s intelligence police and CIA accomplices. Riveting and
inspiring, Osberger places the reader there and you cannot look away.”
Renny Golden, Author, The Music of Her Rivers
"Kathy Osberger’s first big leap after finishing college was to drop into conflict-ridden Chile in the aftermath of Augusto Pinochet’s brutal overthrow of a popular, freely elected Salvador Allende. Her bold foray was a fervent response to a Vatican II call for social justice and human rights. She gamely inserted herself in rear guard support for the ongoing armed opposition in company with a gallant band of mostly American Catholic women, some in religious orders. Osberger’s melding into their background resistance inevitably stamps her as an enemy of the Pinochet coup. She weathers a stream of traumas including brief detention. Her story is one of resilience, faith, and courage through the bonding of uncommon freedom fighters. Her writing vivifies the richness of diverse activists and the dangers they encountered. It is a moving testimony to personal discovery and the inhumanities we face.” Kenneth Briggs, Journalist, Teacher, and Author, has been the principal religion writer at Newsday and the New York Times. He has authored five books centered on contemporary Catholicism.
“This book had me quickly and completely riveted to the telling of the author’s experience, sparking a reliving
of my own! Beautifully written, giving graphic and prophetic witness to the reality of Chile’s dictatorship.”
Pat Farrell, OSF
