Brotherless Night

…when was the last time you read a 📖- and thought - I wish I could share this book with the 🌍?

‍

I’ve just finished reading Brotherless Night, by V.V. Ganeshananthan - and it took me on an emotional 🎢. Of course, it was deeply familiar to me, in many ways it was home 🇱🇰. But the perspective and stories that V.V. Ganeshananthan masterfully weaves remind me of the urgent need to remember ‘history’ and stories from all perspectives.

This book was 20 years in the writing, and I can see why. The meticulous research and documentation of the horrors which took place is truly remarkable and badly needed. From guilt and shame to awe and pain - I truly felt it all. In the interview linked below you’ll see that V.V. Ganeshananthan hoped that this book would resonate with the Sri Lankan diaspora - and let me tell you it did for me. Deeply. “To call attention to the fact that there’s not only the positionality of the author but also the positionality of a potential reader.

‍

What are the assumptions that the reader makes about the kinds of explanations that they’re owed?” - V.V. Ganeshananthan 👇🏽 💭 … Which 📚 truly moved you, shocked you, stayed with you? I’d love to add more books to my long list - and together create a ‘living list’ of these perspectives we might not otherwise encounter. Huge thanks to Minal Wickrematunge for sharing this masterpiece with me. 👏🏽 For me any story which brings out intense emotion and shares a perspective I haven't considered - is one to treasure. 💫 🌍

‍