Bedford Public Library

Brotherless night, a novel, V.V. Ganeshananthan

eng

no index present

fiction

Brotherless night

1355330713

V.V. Ganeshananthan

a novel

"Jaffna, 1981. Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, as a vicious civil war subsumes Sri Lanka, her dream takes a different path as she watches those around her, including her four beloved brothers, swept up in violent political ideologies and their consequences. She must ask herself: is it possible for anyone to move through life without doing harm? Sashi begins working 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 Lanka's Tamil minority. But after the Tigers murder one of her teachers, and the arrival of Indian peacekeepers brings further atrocities, she turns to one of her professors, a feminist and dissident who invites her to join in a dangerous, secret project of documenting human rights violations as a mode of civil resistance to war. In gorgeous, fearless writing, Ganeshananthan captures furious mothers marching to demand news of their disappeared sons; a young student attending the hunger strike of an equally young militant; and a feminist reading group that tries to side with community and justice over any single political belief. Set during the early years of Sri Lanka's thirty-year civil war, and based on over a decade of research, Movement explores the blurred lines between formal participation in conflict and civilian life. This is a heartrending portrait of one woman's moral journey, and a testament to both the enduring impact of war and the bonds of home"--, Provided by publisher

Prologue: New York, 2009 -- Part I: A near-invisible scar. The boys with the Jaffna eyes, Jaffna, 1981 -- A good sister, Jaffna to Colombo, late 1981-1983 -- Displacement, Colombo to Jaffna, 1983 -- Recruitment, Jaffna, 1983-1984 -- Part II: Movement. What the women said, Jaffna, July 1984 -- Supporters, Jaffna, August 1984 -- Possible militant, Jaffna, late 1984-early 1985 -- The doctor begins, Jaffna, late 1985-early 1986 -- Part III: The half-doctor. Refusal, Jaffna, 1986 -- Lights out, Jaffna, 1986 -- Liberation, Jaffna, 1986-1987 ; Saviours, mid-1987 -- Part IV: The end of hunger. K becomes K, Jaffna, September 1987 -- The author, Jaffna, late 1987 -- Innocent people, Jaffna, late 1987-1989 -- Hospital notes, Jaffna, October 1987 -- Part V: The palace of history. Hippocrates, Colombo/Jaffna, 1989 -- Safe passage, Colombo to Jaffna, late 1989 -- The body, Jaffna, 1989 -- The next report, somewhere in the air, 1989; New York, 2009

adult