Books I've Read: Brotherless Night

 

My book club chose this book because it was shortlisted for the Women's Prize.  It's one of those books I probably wouldn't have picked up on my own, but I'm really glad to have read.  I know very little about the civil war in Sri Lanka, and while I've heard of the Tamil Tigers, I wasn't aware of exactly what they did, or their role in this conflict.

The book follows Sashi, a teenager whose dream is to be a doctor.  She's from a large, loving family who value education and encourage the dreams of their children.  Just as she's preparing for the exams that will decide her future, civil war breaks out and Sashi's life changes overnight.

One by one her beloved brothers disappear from her life - killed or joined up with the Tigers to fight for their people's freedom.  Her childhood friend K is also swept up in the madness and violence, rising through the Tiger ranks rapidly.

When K asks for Sashi's help, she can't refuse and soon finds herself working punishing hours in a field hospital helping an organisation she is becoming increasingly disillusioned with. So when her favourite professor invites her to take part in a women's movement, Sashi jumps at the chance even though she knows it will change everything for her.

 This is a powerful book about people who are traditionally without power - women.  Yet here, the women are the ones who demand and ultimately succeed in creating change.  But there are prices to pay and Sashi's journey vividly evokes both the bravery and the sacrifice required to force positive change.

I learned a lot about Sri Lanka and its history through reading this book which is a good thing. The politics and history of that part of the world are not things I knew a lot about - my history class studied South Africa the year the other history class studied India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - so I came to the subject matter without much prior knowledge.  I used to run films for the local Tamil society, but those were rarely political; they were usually just the same as Bollywood films, just in the Tamil language.

So I recommend this one.  it's powerful and speaks volumes to how different the world would look if women ran everything...

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

In this searing novel, a courageous young woman tries to protect her dream of becoming a doctor as civil war devastates Sri Lanka.

Jaffna, 1981. Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, a vicious civil war tears through her home, and her dream spins off course as she sees her four beloved brothers and their friend K swept up in the mounting violence. Desperate to act, Sashi accepts K's invitation to work as a medic at the field hospital for the militant Tamil Tigers, who, following years of state discrimination and violence, are fighting for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority. But after the Tigers murder one of her teachers and Indian peacekeepers arrive only to commit further atrocities, Sashi begins to question where she stands. When one of her medical school professors, a Tamil feminist and dissident, invites her to join a secret project documenting human rights violations, she embarks on a dangerous path that will change her forever.

Set during the early years of Sri Lanka's three-decade civil war, Brotherless Night is a heartrending portrait of one woman's moral journey and a testament to both the enduring impact of war and the bonds of home.