Book Review: Behind Those Eyes – Prince Nelson Kimera Ssemugalawa

Mar 30, 2022

Just when you would be lulled to think that “Behind those eyes” is a lovey-dovey story where someone bestows sentiments of attachment to another significant other, this is different.  True, Prince Nelson is happily married with a wonderful wife, beautiful children and a booming career.  However, ‘behind those eyes’ is a story of perseverance amid adversary until he makes it to the top. 

Book Review: Behind Those Eyes – Prince Nelson Kimera Ssemugalawa

NewVision Reporter
Journalist @NewVision

By Alex Balimwikungu

Prince Nelson Yiga now known as Ssemugalawa Kimera has never been happier.   His long awaited new memoir, “Behind those eyes”, which is set for release is one that is set to put him on a higher pedestal among critical thinkers and readers. 

Just when you would be lulled to think that “Behind those eyes” is a lovey-dovey story where someone bestows sentiments of attachment to another significant other, this is different.  True, Prince Nelson is happily married with a wonderful wife, beautiful children and a booming career.  However, ‘behind those eyes’ is a story of perseverance amid adversary until he makes it to the top. 

Prince Nelson Kimera Ssemugalawa has written a book about his travails from Uganda to the US

Prince Nelson Kimera Ssemugalawa has written a book about his travails from Uganda to the US

There is a hook about this book. As you read on, your attention is instantly grabbed.  It reads like one of those award-winning series scripts that keep you wanting to find out what happened next.   In the end, you will continue reading instead of scrolling past it. 

Prince Nelson’s subversive brilliance shines in new and unexpected ways with this masterpiece. He intersperses suspense and intricate diction to deliver his message the simplest of ways.  Ever wondered what goes on in the mind of an 8-year old who is captured and conscripted to fight among rebels? 

About the book…

The book is simply about a young man growing up in the capital city of Uganda a third world country in the East of Africa. The young man is raised by a wealthy father and step mother and grows up not knowing who his real mother was.

At around the age of eight he is sent to a boarding school in a remote part of the country where a faction of a series of rebels that were fighting the government at the time invaded the school at took refuge and in turn started training students to join the rebellion.

 He was with friends recruited and trained to do rebel activities for almost seven months when peace talks were concluded

When war ended, the young man went back home only to find his erstwhile wealthy father encompassed in a cloud of misery and abject poverty.  His siblings have been divided among (a norm in the African Society with the wealthy).

The father would reinvent himself later in years but for the young Prince Nelson, the scars are for life. The war never left him the same.

Was he destined for odd jobs?  He doesn’t want to agree.  He believes an inborn talent is the reason he has morphed into what he is today.  Fast forward. He is in the United States of America today.   The trials, travails and triumphs he spells out in the book can act as a guide to many in Sub Saharan Africa about chasing a dream and living it.

The cultural exchange that took this young man to the United States saw a man growing to be a precious jewel in the societies he lived in, from being a job giver to society activist and representative of organizations, from helping out real estate development and giving exceptions to needy families on section 8 as it is known in the United States to giving tax sub sides to starter homes he built himself.

He did get a congressional medal of distinction form the US congress and during that dinner he confided to Congressman Doctor Michael Burgess that his desire was to help his own people by using the education, the wealth and love he had gotten from the American people.

He later became an American Citizen and returned to his birth country Uganda to start charitable projects that see him engage himself in cancer prevention.  

Young people who have gone through similar troubles, adults who can learn from the book, immigrants. Successful people who need to tell others about their experiences so many can learn, relate and educate. The young, mature and adults, this is your book.

Basic Plot Summary

Like a seasoned writer, Prince Nelson Kimera  engages a high-level synopsis of the plot so the audience gets the gist of what the story is about.  He leaves out the climax or the ending of the book to avoid giving away spoilers so you don’t ruin the story for your audience.   He does it in such a way that his audience

  This brings the audience to wait for the second book that narrates the journey after America since “Behind those eyes” was about his childhood and adulthood in the USA.

Synopsis

Simply saying a book was “good” or “bad”, or that you liked it or didn’t, isn’t helpful.  Personally, even though I have not physically been to The ‘America, Prince Nelson took me there.  The vivid language he used.   The vivid language instantly transported me into the world, but there were some huge plot holes that didn’t make sense.

The writing was rough, with especially awkward dialogue, but I thought the premise of the story was brilliant.  The book gives a chance for mass learning. It is a story both for the young and old with an iota of ambition. It demystifies the developed world but most importantly. It teaches many people in the Third world that having a deprived past is not the end of the world.    It is a must read!

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