In the tradition of Michael Ondatjee's Anil's Ghost and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, Island of a Thousand Mirrors is an emotionally resonant saga of cultural heritage, heartbreaking conflict and deep family bonds. But her dreams for the future are abruptly stamped out when she is arrested by a group of Sinhala soldiers and pulled into the very heart of the conflict that she has tried so hard to avoid - a conflict that, eventually, will connect her and Yasodhara in unexpected ways. Saraswathie is living in the active war zone of Sri Lanka, and hopes to become a teacher. But Yasodhara's life has already become intertwined with a young Tamil girl's. Yasodhara's family escapes to Los Angeles.

As a child in idyllic Colombo, Yasodhara's and her siblings' lives are shaped by social hierarchies, their parents' ambitions, teenage love and, subtly, the differences between Tamil and Sinhala people but the peace is shattered by the tragedies of war. Yasodhara tells the story of her own Sinhala family, rich in love, with everything they could ask for. 'In Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Nayomi Munaweera writes with ferocity, fire and poetry of the incomprehensible madness of civil war and its effects upon those caught within it, whether in the villages and cities of Sri Lanka, or half a world away.Summary 'Before violence tore apart the tapestry of Sri Lanka and turned its pristine beaches red, there were two families. A dark, beautiful transporting debut' – V. The three women at the core of the ambitious, globe-spanning story show us, heart-breakingly, that we are linked by more than nation, more than race, more, even than blood. 'Nayomi Munaweera pulls you into this book's big-hearted embrace with fierce, poetic language and striking imagery.

'Lyrical, heartfelt and awash with imagery: Island of a Thousand Mirrors expresses a deep love of the country and a lingering sadness at what Sri Lanka has done to itself' – Shehan Karunatilaka, author of Chinaman Meanwhile, Saraswathi lives in the middle of the war torn country struggling to be a teenager in a land that is anything but normal.Ĭovering three quarters of a century of Sri Lanka's past, this beautifully written novel combines harsh reality, love and tenderness with astonishing insight. The two children, Yasodhara and Lanka adapt to their new life quickly but memories of their childhood on a tropical island in the middle of the Indian Ocean are seared into their souls. Read an excerpt! This is a beguiling tale of three women swept up in the turbulence of an island's history and whose fate is woven intricately together in war, migration, love, exile and belonging.Ī few months after the 1983 riots, a Sinhalese family leaves Sri Lanka for America.

Island of 1000 mirrors