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Brotherless Night

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Brotherless Night

By: V. V. Ganeshananthan
Narrated by: Nirmala Rajasingam
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024

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?

'A masterpiece of historical fiction' MONICA ALI, chair of judges for the Women's Prize for Fiction

'An unforgettable account of a country and a family coming undone… Brotherless Night is a spectacular work of historical fiction' Guardian

'A heartbreaking exploration of a family fractured by civil war' BRIT BENNETT, bestselling author of THE VANISHING HALF

'Blazingly brilliant' CELESTE NG, bestselling author of LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE

'Stunningly great' Curtis Sittenfeld, bestselling author of ROMANTIC COMEDY, via Twitter

'Ganeshananthan is a superb writer...I wept at many points in this novel and I also wept when it was over' Sunday Times


WINNER OF THE CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION

©2023 V. V. Ganeshananthan (P)2023 Penguin Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military World Literature Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Tear-jerking

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All stars
Most relevant  
A big important read, which I heard about only because of its Women’s Prize nomination

Compelling, compassionate

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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.

Horrible History

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A part of history - the Sri Lankan civil war - that I knew very little about. I see that other reviews have commented on the slightly stilted narration at times, but I wanted to flag that the narrator is the sister of the real life inspiration character of Anjali. I think this is a beautiful nod to the story and a way to honour those who were victims of the resistance.

Beautifully written and impeccably researched

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Told very honestly and opened my eyes to a period of history and place I knew little about.

Eye opening

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Sure to become a classic one day. Classics are what I usually read, but this is as good as the best of them.

Best contemporary book I've read this year

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I am of an age where I remember so much of this civil war on the news but the horror of it did not come across. This is a very hard hitting book where one person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist. Civil war is brutal and I do feel the book rightly shows the Tamil leaders moving towards megalomania rather than representing the people they were supposed to protect. However, the same can be said of the other side. In the end, this story has parralels with all civil wars such as Northern Ireland during the troubles. Not sure I would be comfortable visiting Sri Lanka now.

Brutal story of tragic war

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A story of Sri Lanka we should all know. Such a powerful story, gripping character creation, historically based and wonderfully read. Best audible book I’ve read in a long time.

Best book I’ve listened to this year!

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what an amazing book, the research was painstaking, I enjoyed the dry narration, and hearing the authentic pronunciation. I think the narrator's sister was the inspiration for Anjali. it is a great book.

what a haunting and informative book. so emotional

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As I was listening and reading a long, I felt like I transport to Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 and was a fly on the walk watching the story on fold. I learnt a lot about the war and unfortunate circumstances that happened to Tamil people. I think I will be thinking about this book for a while

Beautifully written

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The recount of Sri-Lankan civil war from insider's perspective - an interesting topic, but cardboard characters and dry narration (from the author, not the audiobook's performer) kept me at arm's length emotionally and made the book much less powerful.

important topic, poor storytelling

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