Across a Bridge of Hair and Bones
by
Scott A. Allen, MD
Across a Bridge of Hair and Bones This memoir documents an extraordinary cross-cultural friendship that began in the Cambodian refugee camps of the killing fields and continued for twenty-four years in the United States.
Across a Bridge offers a new perspective on the survival narrative by providing a unique view of healing.First, the story emphasizes the healing power of an unlikely cross-cultural relationship across barriers of language, religion, history and culture.Second, Across a Bridge focuses less on the victim status of the lead characters and more on how they healed and went on to live meaningful and compassionate lives. Third, by following the story for over twenty-four years, a more comprehensive view of the relationships, the long term cost of trauma, and the long process of healing is developed.
Across a Bridge starts with an account of my experience as a ten-year-old patient on a burn ward and then of how I ran away from home to the Cambodian border at the age of seventeen in search of understanding of my own experiences.
In a frontier refugee camp, I meet and am befriended by two Cambodian families who have survived war and genocide.I am drawn into their struggle to survive and reach freedom and become consumed with trying to assist them in their escape.In this part of the story, I am young and unskilled.Yet, with the help of others, I am eventually able to secure resettlement for one family in the U.S. while the other family secures their own resettlement in Canada.The narrative of these events is framed in a tense confrontation scene that occurs twenty years later.
While Across a Bridge could be included in the [survival[ genre, it transcends genres.A central narrative line in this manuscript is a coming of age story .However, this book goes beyond the coming of age narrative in developing the Cambodian characters and emphasizing the relationship and its role in the growth and development of both the author and the Cambodian friends.Across a Bridge also has a spiritual angle that is central to the story, which would put it in the realm of spiritual and inspirational works.
Across a Bridge will appeal to a wide market of readers.The most obvious market for this book is anyone who has been traumatized.Whether one has been touched by war, a serious accident or illness, abuse or other traumatic life experience, making sense of the trauma, loss or injury is a universal quest. In addition to this obvious market, there are a number of sub-markets:
In its current form, this is not a self-help book.However, a philosophy of healing is articulated through the story, and that philosophy could be used to develop motivational or inspirational talks that could be used to help market the book (I am an experienced public speaker).The potential also exists for projects more in the traditional [self-help[ genre as a complimentary marketing strategy.
While my personal experience described in Across a Bridge is my principle qualification to write a book dealing with the issues of trauma survival, my additional qualifications come from my professional work as a physician.In addition to my continued involvement with the Cambodian community, I have also worked with a variety of other traumatized patient populations including prisoners, the mentally ill and the developmentally disabled. I have published articles in the Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune, The Providence Journal, The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Internal Medicine and Federal Probation among others.
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I was fortunate to survive a life threatening injury as a child, fortunate to witness the survival and recovery of the victims of the Cambodian holocaust, and fortunate to become a doctor and learn about the process of healing.In a culture where we have come to expect that we are entitled to a life without a bad experience, I feel strongly that there is a need for a story like this to be told.Bad things do happen to good people. Across a Bridge of Hair and Bones tells the story of people who have come to accept that reality with grace and dignity and tells the story of how they recovered from trauma and found meaning and inspiration in their lives. In post 9/11 America, with the country again at war, I know there is an audience for the lessons of this book.
Scott A. Allen, MD
The entire story of Scott's journey, and the story of the Cambodian family whom he brefriended, and the twenty five year relationship, is now told in Scott's new memoir, Across a Bridge of Hair and Bones, currently being shopped . Across a Bridge of Hair and Bones is a story about trauma, injury, hope, healing and redemption. Serious inquiries for publishing rights may be directed to Scott Allen.