First published 2017
Dinesh lives in a temporary camp on Sri Lanka's coast. The Tamil evacuee has fled there with thousands of others as government forces advance during the civil war. His days pass in mechanical routine. Shells drop at regular intervals. He moves through the camp without purpose or connection. His family is gone. His former life has disappeared. He accepts this existence without protest or hope. One morning an elderly man approaches him. The stranger makes an offer Dinesh never expected. He wants Dinesh to marry his daughter Ganga. The proposal cuts through Dinesh's numbness. He must decide whether to accept this sudden possibility of human connection. The choice forces him to consider what remains of his capacity for relationship and feeling. In a place where survival consumes everything, two people contemplate joining their lives together.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, war, contemporary
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: emotional-journey, found-family
Setting: Sri Lanka
Period: Civil War
264 pages · Library Binding · Center Point Pub
Content warnings: war