First published 2023
Sashi is sixteen and lives in Jaffna in 1981. She wants to become a doctor. Civil war erupts across Sri Lanka over the next decade. Her four brothers and their friend K join the fighting. The Tamil Tigers recruit fighters for their separatist cause after years of government persecution. K asks Sashi to work as a medic at their field hospital. She agrees, hoping to use her medical skills. The Tigers kill one of her teachers. Indian peacekeepers arrive but commit their own brutal acts. Sashi starts doubting the cause she serves. A Tamil professor from medical school approaches her secretly. The professor documents human rights abuses committed by all sides. She invites Sashi to help with this dangerous work. Sashi must choose between her medical ambitions, her loyalty to her brothers, and her growing awareness of the war's moral complexities. Her decision will reshape everything she believes about home, family, and justice.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, war, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: India, Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Period: 1981, 1980s
348 pages · Hardcover · Random House
Content warnings: violence, war