Overview

An outstanding debut novel of fractured family relationships in modern Sri Lanka, from the author of the Women''s Prize-winning Brotherless Night

Reviews

''An evocative examination of Sri Lankan cultural mores, and the way one family is affected by love and war''
Financial Times

''Ganeshananthan is a superb writer''
Sunday Times

''Moving and intelligent''
Independent

Synopsis

In this globe-scattered Sri Lankan family, we speak only of two kinds of marriage. The first is the Arranged Marriage. The second is the Love Marriage.

Reverse a family tree and branches of blood are whittled down to one person - in this case, first-generation American Yalini. The daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants, Yalini finds herself caught between the traditions of her ancestors and the lure of her own modern world. When she is summoned to Toronto to help care for her dying uncle, Kumaran, Yalini is forced to see that violence is not a relic of the Sri Lankan past, but very much a part of her Western present.

While Kumaran''s loved ones gather around him to say goodbye, Yalini traces her family''s roots through a series of marriages - Love Marriage, Arranged Marriage, and all that lies in between.