Brotherless Night: one woman's journey through civil war

Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshanathan is the story of one woman’s journey through a thirty year civil war. Jaffna, 1981, sixteen year old Sashi wants nothing but to become a doctor. She wants to follow the path of her grandfather and older brothers. She has come to believe the medical mantra of “do no harm,” she studies harder and longer than anyone else. As she is ready to enter university, a vicious civil war rages on the island of Sri Lanka. Her dreams take her on a different path than she ever imagined as she watches those she loves and cares for get swept up in the radical political ideologies and the consequences of those beliefs. When she realizes that both sides are willing to commit atrocities, she finds herself on a dangerous path. Sashi finds herself asking: does anyone go through life without doing harm to others? 

Brotherless Night is set in the early years of the Sri Lankan civil war. I was intrigued by this period of history that I was not aware of. Sri Lanka, an island off the coast of India, is home to diverse cultures, languages and ethnicities which have led to conflicts. Brotherless Night is a compelling read with the heartbreaking choices that many had to make for the life they felt they deserved. While the outside world may have seen them as unworthy and expendable, through Sashi’s eyes, readers see people trying to do what is right and others taking extreme measures to have a place in the world. The author writes sweeping, lyrical descriptions of the people as they fight this battle, as one quote stood out to me and stuck in my mind as I read: “Divided by colonial power, ancestral angers and bullheaded pride.” I recommend Brotherless Night. 

Brotherless Night is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook.