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Brotherless Night
- Narrated by: Nirmala Rajasingam
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
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Brotherless Night
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, as a vicious civil war tears through her hometown of Jaffna, her dream takes her on a different path as she sees those around her, including her four beloved brothers and their friend, get swept up in violent political ideologies and their consequences. Desperate to act, she must ask herself: is it possible for anyone to move through life without doing harm?
Critic reviews
"A beautiful, brilliant book - it gives an accounting of the unimaginable losses suffered by a family and by a country, but it is as tender and fierce as it is mournful. It is unafraid to look directly at the worst of the violence and erasure we have perpetrated or allowed to happen, but is insistent that we can still choose to be better." (Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections)
"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 Novic, New York Times bestselling author of True Biz)
"With immense compassion and deep moral complexity, V. V. Ganeshananthan brings us an achingly moving portrait of individual and societal grief." (Celeste Ng, bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere)
What listeners say about Brotherless Night
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-04-24
History lesson
This book is a beautifully written account of the trouble in Sri Lanka in the 1980's, then know as Ceylon. The characters are well developed and one easily becomes emotionally involved. It is listed as fiction but I suspect much is non-fiction. Extremely heartfelt and well written, well worth listening to.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-03-24
Compelling, compassionate
A big important read, which I heard about only because of its Women’s Prize nomination
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-05-24
Horrible History
The narrator does a fantastic job telling this traumatic story Which is more like nonfiction at times. Although only 13 hours it’s a tough listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chrissie
- 19-03-23
Best contemporary book I've read this year
Sure to become a classic one day. Classics are what I usually read, but this is as good as the best of them.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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- NicksLady
- 06-05-24
A harrowing story
I found it a hard listen due to the lack of fluency of the reader. I could only listen for short bursts.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Caroline
- 12-05-24
Brilliant and moving book
This novel is very closely based on the facts of the Sri Lankan civil war which I knew virtually nothing about. It is narrated by a Tamil woman who was a young girl at the beginning of the war.
It's written in quite a straightforward and matter of fact style which took a while to get into but that is one of the things that makes it so brilliant and moving. It avoids gory details of violence and sentimentality which a lesser author might be tempted to do. It focuses on the results of the violence on ordinary people who are not powerful but are caught in the middle of power struggles between 3 group - the Sri Lankan Government, the Tamil Tigers and the Indian 'peacekeepers'.
The book also exposes that there is no simple good and bad as the Tamil Tigers, supposedly fighting for freedom are as cruel as the government they are fighting and the Indian 'peacekeepers' are also cruel and violent. It powerfully explores, too, the terrible decisions ordinary people have to make to survive when that can involve making moral compromises just to survive. And the consequences for the few, incredibly brave people who do take a stand against the violence and try to document the abuses. The straightforward narrative means that this isn't overwhelming although it's a tough listen but a very rewarding one.
Although set in the Sri Lankan civil war, it's probably also what happens in most wars so has much wider significance. Highly recommend.
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