New York Times Book Review Editorsâ Choice âĸ A courageous young Sri Lankan woman tries to protect her dream of becoming a doctor in this âheartbreaking exploration of a family fractured by civil warâ (Brit Bennett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Half).
âThis book, a careful, vivid exploration of whatâs lost within a community when life and thought collapse toward binary conflict, rang softly for me as a novel for our own country in this odd time.ââNathan Heller, The New Yorker
AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR âĸ WINNER OF THE CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION âĸ FINALIST FOR THE MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD âĸ LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMENâS PRIZE FOR FICTION âĸ LONGLISTED FOR THE ASIAN PRIZE FOR FICTIONÂ
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 Kâs invitation to work as a medic at a field hospital for the militant Tamil Tigers, who, following years of state discrimination and violence, are fighting for a separate homeland for Sri Lankaâs 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 Lankaâs three-decade civil war, Brotherless Night is a heartrending portrait of one womanâs moral journey and a testament to both the enduring impact of war and the bonds of home.