All the Glimmering Stars

Anthony puts away his radio. After hearing that Patrick was returning to Florence’s camp, he realized that he likely helped her escape. However, he’s pulled aside by two commanders. They tell him that Florence tried to escape, but she and her children were killed. Patrick reported that he tried to stop her, using several manhunters, but he was shot in the neck and knocked unconscious. When he came to, everyone around him was dead.

Anthony is devastated. The generals ask him several times if he plans to run. Anthony promises not to if they release Iris. He decides that he can help something “good” come out of his family’s deaths. Anthony grieves for several weeks. He continues to do his duties, insisting to Kony and the others that he’s fine. In mid-July, Kony decides to return to the Imatongs, where there are LRA soldiers and a cache of supplies.

When they reach the Imatongs, they find that the cache was raided. One of the generals reports that people in a nearby village stole their supplies. Kony tells Anthony to radio the nearby commanders with orders to kill anyone who stole from him.

After Anthony sends the message, he goes to a hill overlooking the village. LRA soldiers gather the villagers on one side of town and kill them all with anti-tank machine guns. Anthony sobs openly, despite how dangerous it is to show emotion.

For two days, Anthony watches as Kony ruthlessly works the 1,000 LRA child soldiers gathered at the mountain. He has them place mines, set up booby traps, and create scarecrows to look soldiers in town and on the hill. Kony has his soldiers hide higher up in the mountains.

When the Sudanese and Ugandan soldiers arrive, they attack the town. They then make their way up the hill to the dummy soldiers. On Kony’s orders, LRA troops destroy the Sudanese communication tower and then begin setting off the mines among the advancing soldiers.

After five hours, the enemy soldiers retreat. Kony orders his men to fire on those retreating through the village, killing dozens more. Kony is happy for the rest of the day, bragging about his victory. He tells Anthony to get his radio, and the two return to the cliff overlooking the town. As Anthony starts setting up the radio, he hears fighter jets approaching.

Anthony and Kony try to flee as two jets fire missiles. One hits the encampment, while the other strikes near the commander base. Kony stumbles and falls, so Anthony drags him back up and helps him run. The two take cover as two more missiles hit the base.

Kony orders all his soldiers to hide in the woods and the mountains. Over the next few hours, the jets return multiple times, dropping a total of 12 bombs on the LRA camps. Afterward, Anthony sees hundreds of dead LRA children and dozens more wounded.

Kony orders everyone to retreat into Uganda. Anthony is relieved to find that both Albert and Patrick survived. Patrick pulls Anthony aside, insisting that he needs to hear his story.

Florence is knocked out in the gunfight and woken up by Kenneth. Patrick urgently leads them to a stream, urging Florence to get rid of her gun. She hesitates, knowing what happens to LRA soldiers who lose their weapons, but finally drops it. They walk downstream, making their way past the Ugandan soldiers.

When the group reaches a road, Patrick finds a bike to carry them. They go to the village of Cwero in the middle of the night. Patrick insists that he must return, leaving Florence to go the rest of the way to the nearest city.

In the present, Patrick tells Anthony the true story of his family. He apologizes for lying. However, Anthony is overcome with joy and relief.

The narrative then shifts back to Florence’s story. They walk through the night, since Florence refuses to stop for fear of the traffic that would be on the road during the day. At dawn, they reach a police barracks. Florence hesitates outside, recalling stories of LRA soldiers being killed for what they did. She hears Kony’s voice warning that she can never return to normal life. However, at Kenneth’s insistence, she finds the courage and goes in.

At the desk, Florence tells the officer that she’s an LRA soldier who escaped. She’s hoping to get to World Vision in Gulu, where she can get help. He goes to find an officer to help her and brings back food and water.

At World Vision, Florence tells her story to two employees at a desk. They leave her and then return with three other women who lived in Rubangatek. To Florence’s surprise, one is Palmer, and they celebrate their reunion.

Throughout the first week there, Florence and her children receive food, clothing, and a room to sleep in. Florence attends therapy sessions with Palmer where they talk about their experiences. Slowly, her fears of leaving the LRA dissipate.

Florence realizes that she must find a way to free herself from Kony. She conjures up the memory of the day Kony held Kenneth and then beat the cabbage in the field. Instead of cowering in fear, she tells him that she forgives him for what he did and pities him for the man he became. From that point on, she feels free from Kony’s control.

Florence and her children are then taken to the Lira Rakeli camp for refugees. They begin to eat more and gain weight, and Kenneth and Boniface make friends with other children in the camp.

One morning, Florence’s father comes to her. He heard her name among the LRA soldiers who escaped. She introduces Constantine to her children. She can see a hesitation and “hardness” in his features, but he greets them both.

A few days later, Constantine takes Florence back to Amia’bil to see her mother. When Florence introduces her children, she sees a look of “deep disapproval” (390), similar to the one Constantine had. However, she too hugs the boys and introduces herself.

Five months later, Anthony moves into Uganda with Kony. One night, the commanders are listening to a local radio station. They often have people on the program who speak to members of the LRA, pleading for them to stop fighting. One of the women introduces herself as Florence, “Anthony’s mother.” She tells Anthony to come home.

The officers look at Anthony. General Bunyi asks Anthony if his mother’s name is Florence, and he admits that it is. However, he insists that Iris told him his mother died. He does his best to keep his emotions even, knowing that the voice on the broadcast was Florence’s, not his mother’s.

For the first time in months, Kony returns to his men. He was spending much of his time hiding in the mountains. To Anthony, Kony looks sickly, gaunt, and much older. He tells the men that he’s leaving to establish a new camp, renew the LRA commandments, and rebuild his army.

For the next six weeks, Anthony constantly searches for an opportunity to escape. He considers killing Leonard, the man assigned to ensure that he doesn’t escape, but realizes that he can’t do it. He wants to “run as a human, a good one,” and not someone who would kill another “in cold blood” (398).

Anthony devises a plan. He retrieves soiled water from the latrine. When Leonard leaves his canteen, Anthony replaces the clean water in it with the soiled water. Then, he watches Leonard over the next day as he becomes extremely ill.

Anthony then goes to General Bunyi and asks for permission to take a raiding party into a nearby village. Bunyi agrees but instructs Bacia to go with him. Anthony is overcome with anger, both at the thought of having to escape Bacia and at the memory of Bacia killing his mother.

In the village, Anthony divides the men up into groups to raid a garden. He goes with Bacia alone. As they walk, Anthony pretends to be sick. Bacia assumes that he has the same thing that Leonard has. He tries to stay with Anthony, but they hear gunshots in the distance. Bacia hesitates but then leaves Anthony.

Anthony runs into the nearby forest. However, he immediately hears gunshots behind him. He heads toward the stars in the east and then runs for nearly two days.

Near the end of the second day, Anthony stops for water and food. He begins resting every few hours and then realizes that he’ll need a longer rest to continue. He falls asleep at the base of a tree.

Anthony wakes to the sound of mewing. He sees Bacia approaching. He raises his gun and demands that Anthony put down his own. Anthony hears the mewing again and sees two small leopard cubs. When twigs break, Bacia and Anthony both turn to see a mother leopard coming brush. She leaps and attacks Bacia, tearing him apart as Anthony watches.

When the leopardess finishes, she gathers her cubs and leaves to go back into the brush. She pauses briefly to look at Anthony, who can’t stop shaking, and then continues.

Anthony runs throughout the next day. He starts seeing familiar things and then finds himself on the hill where he first met James. Realizing that he’s near home, he continues toward the three trees that mark his village.

Though most of Anthony’s village is deserted, he sees an old man. The man asks Anthony if he’s going to kill him, but Anthony insists that he was a prisoner for more than 10 years and just wants to go home. He asks after his father, and the man tells him that he moved to a camp nearby. He then tells Anthony that he’ll go get his father’s brother, Paul. Anthony goes back into the forest to hide from planes and falls asleep in the brush.

A while later, Paul wakes Anthony up. They embrace, and Anthony asks Paul to tell the Ugandan military that he’s an LRA soldier and is ready to turn himself in.

Anthony waits two days in the bush for his uncle to return. He thinks about his mother’s words years ago, that “life isn’t all about happiness” and sometimes it’s just “survival” (417). On the morning of March 14, 2005, he sees Ugandan soldiers approaching.

Several soldiers confront Anthony, their guns trained on him. He realizes that he’s holding a gun. They tell him to drop it. He hesitates, remembering the LRA’s threat about losing his gun, but after a moment complies. A soldier handcuffs him, and they take him to a prison.

A commanding soldier asks Anthony to tell his story. He explains who he is and what he did in the LRA, telling everything from the beginning. When he finishes, he asks about the punishment for what he did. The officer tells him that it depends on the ruling, but it is usually 20 years in prison.

Anthony spends two nights alone in the prison. He contemplates what he’ll do if he’s forced to serve 20 years. He considers death by suicide, not wanting to continue to be told what to do.

Anthony’s father visits him. They embrace and then break down in tears. Anthony tells his father that he tried to be a “good” person, but it was too difficult in the LRA. However, his father insists that he’s still the same, good person he was when he was kidnapped.

On the third day, General Hugo Adamo retrieves Anthony from his cell. He shows Anthony a message they intercepted from the LRA and asks him to translate it. When he does so successfully, Adamo is shocked, not having believed that Anthony was who he said he was.

Anthony asks if he’ll spend 20 years in prison. Adamo gives him two choices: 20 years in prison or 20 in the Ugandan Army. Adamo is then called away, and Anthony is returned to his cell.

That night, Anthony again contemplates what to do. He again considers dying by suicide. He thinks of joining the army but then running to Kenya the first chance he gets. However, thoughts of Florence and his children make him realize that he could never do that. In the end, he thinks of his father’s words from years ago: “What would a good human do?” (426).

Florence continues to adapt to civilian life. She learns that she scored in the top 10% on her test, meaning that she could have gone to secondary school and become a nurse. She’s sad that she missed the chance but promises herself she’ll find a way in the future.

Florence’s parents never openly say anything about Anthony, yet she can tell that they disapprove of her marriage. They speak as little as possible of her time in the LRA.

One night, Florence has dinner with Jasper and her parents. Afterward, she sits with Jasper to listen to the messages on the radio—the same station that broadcasted her message to Anthony. Anthony comes on the radio, pleading with the soldiers to run from the LRA.

Florence sends a letter to Anthony through the Red Cross. She receives a response in which he promises to visit her. Her parents initially forbid it but then relent; they agree to meet Anthony but insist that they won’t recognize the marriage.

Anthony tells Adamo that he wishes to join the Ugandan Army. Adamo answers that Anthony can start earning forgiveness by helping translate messages they intercept from the LRA. Relieved that he won’t be fighting, Anthony happily accepts.

A few days later, Anthony goes to visit Florence. They embrace, breaking down in tears. Anthony is shocked by how much his children have grown, but Kenneth immediately hugs him. He has dinner with Florence’s family.

At the end of the meal, Anthony talks to Constantine. He insists that he loves Florence and wants to marry her appropriately, after receiving Constantine’s blessing. Constantine responds by giving Anthony a list of items he expects Anthony to buy as a dowry. Florence protests, but Anthony agrees.

Over the next few weeks, Anthony visits his family often. He spends the rest of the time working with the army, doing side jobs cutting trees, and talking on the radio show. His messages bring home a massive number of new LRA escapees.

In 2006, the International Criminal Court (ICC) files charges against Kony and his closest commanders. Vincent tries to negotiate a surrender, but Kony later kills him for his betrayal and then flees into the Congo to escape prosecution. Anthony learns that Albert died in combat near the end of the fighting.

In 2008, Anthony finally pays the dowry and marries Florence in a church in front of their closest friends and family. After they say their vows, Florence tells everyone how important Anthony’s love was to her survival in the LRA. She then tells them about Kony and how, after everything she went through, she was able to forgive him in her heart. She realized that Kony helped bring Anthony to her and helped make her into the person she became. Forgiving him—and taking pity on who he was—allowed her to find more room in her heart for love.

After the ceremony, Anthony and Florence go outside and find Patrick there. He left the LRA a few months earlier and came to their wedding to surprise them. They’re delighted to see him, thanking him for helping Florence escape.

For the next few days, Anthony and Florence celebrate their marriage with a huge reception.