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On Sal Mal Lane (2013)

by Ru Freeman(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1555976425 (ISBN13: 9781555976422)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Graywolf Press

review 1: This is a wonderful book about an area of the world I know very little about, and a set of childhood friends surviving in their own way during the start of a well known civil war. The story telling, characters, and politics of the time remind me a lot of To Kill A Mockingbird, and the writing is nearly as apt. Devi will capture your heart, and her siblings and fellow neighbors on Sal Mal Lane are also endearing. It is beautiful and at times devastating story about coming of age in a time of racial tensions and war.
review 2: Beautifully written, the author focuses on a street in the outskirts of the capital city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. There are Sinhalese (Buddhist), Tamil (Hindu), Muslim, Burghers (descendants of the Europeans) all living peacefully together... more on this street. They bring their holiday food to the neighbors and the children all play outside under the Sal Mal Trees. The four children from the Herath family are so close that "There was never a single Herath child in a conversation, there were four; every word uttered, every challenge made, every secret kept together". But the outside world will soon invade Sal Mal Lane. Civil war is brewing in Sri Lanka and the author, Ru Freeman, skillfully shows us how a country and its children lose their innocence. Mr Niles says "People do not go to war.. they carry the war inside them". This books is heartbreakingly beautiful. The best book that I have read in a long time. less

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