Sri Lankan-American author V.V. Ganeshananthan’s latest novel, her second, is a coming-of-age story that unfurls itself with expert pacing and remarkable depth of characterisation. Brotherless Nightfollows the fortunes of young Sashikala Kulenthiren, a Sri Lankan Tamil teenager in the early 1980s, as the country plunges into ever-escalating violence and blatant apartheid-like policies.

AM: The story reflects on the subject of women in wartime. There are plenty of strong female characters, including Sashi herself. There is a feminist reading group at the university that Sashi joins, where they read Kumari Jayawardena’s Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World. One of the unauthorised Reports that circulate is about sexual violence and the status of women; it calls Tamil society to account for its conservative posture towards women. And the story unflinchingly covers the brutal fact of rape during wartime, including by the Indian peacekeeping forces. Can you say something about why this subject is so important? In Sashi, we see someone who gathers strength, specifically from her friendships with other women, and also from her own mother, from her grandmother. And a lot of the kind of quiet acts of care that make the society able to continue — in some form — during this intense period of conflict come from civilians, come from women, come from civil institutions, like universities, like hospitals, right, like libraries.” Reading and writing

The book is informative. The characters and their life stories pull the reader in. The prose is alternately informative, eloquent and moving. The focus on Sashi and her family gives readers a connection to the many who struggled and suffered. Compassion is what the reader feels. My eyes teared up, not just once but repeatedly. This talented author delivers here a novel that both teaches and moves readers emotionally. I am impressed.

Rather than sort of pursue a political agenda, first I think that the point is to have good fiction, and if some sort of statement about morality emerges from that, that’s great. But my priority was to make a story that revealed something, and I didn’t necessarily want what it was revealing to be so plain. ETA: I need to add just a few words; I cannot stop thinking about what I have read, learned and experienced, as though firsthand. Atrocities were committed by all involved—the government, the terrorist groups, the Indian peacekeepers and the UN that failed to act. In shining a light on all sides, the book is balanced and fair. Brotherless Night is my favorite kind of novel, one so rich and full of movement that it’s only later I realize how much I have learned. V. V. Ganeshananthan drew me in from the very first line, and the intricacies of her characters’ lives made it easy to stay.” —Sara Nović, New York Times bestselling author of True BizIn this novel, I was transported deep into the experiences of civilians who are inspired to action, either to defend their people or to serve all people. They witness first hand terrorism and suffering, all the horror of war. Friends turn on friends, student against teacher, siblings are divided, families displaced. Brotherless Night is an absolute triumph. It is a masterpiece, giving us one woman's perspective of the Sri Lankan Civil War, and simultaneously showing us how in that one perspective lies everything. It is the story of coming of age into a world that becomes increasingly fragmented and horrific, where every lesson comes at a painful cost, and every lovely memory seems to exact an exorbitant price. And yet despite the pain, there is so much beauty in this book, at a fundamental, granular level. Every sentence is stunning, bringing a complicated world and unforgettable characters to life.