I finished reading this book a while ago but never got around to writing the review, so even though I liked the book, my reasons for liking it are a bit fuzzy.

This book is excellent and I would recommend it to anyone, although I must say it is not an easy read in parts but neither should it be. These women successfully organize a march to free their sons (something Sashi's father passively avoided), document human rights abuse through a series of "Reports," teach medical school classes under terrible conditions, and much more.She is drawn to volunteer in a Tamil field hospital, treating cadre and civilian victims of the war. This novel makes heartbreakingly clear the horrific reality on the ground in Sri Lanka that those protestors (in Toronto and in major cities around the West) were trying to bring to the world’s attention.

I often do not love historical fiction because it bends real and momentous events to fit some ultimately tiny story. So begins our time with Sashi, who is older and living in the US now, but telling us her story as it started in 1981 in Jaffna, when she was a teenager and the Sri Lankan civil war was just beginning.The narrative pacing is flawless, the voice is irresistible, and the marriage of the two keeps the reader turning throughout. Ultimately it is the civilian victims--some of whom take extraordinary and courageous risks to fight back (including the narrator)--who are unambiguously and without any moral complexity the heroes of this account.

Set during the early years of Sri Lanka's three-decade civil war, Brotherless Night is a heartrending portrait of one woman's moral journey and a testament to both the enduring impact of war and the bonds of home. In this novel, I was transported deep into the experiences of civilians who are inspired to action, either to defend their people or to serve all people. Thousands of Tamils were murdered, raped and attacked; homes and businesses were destroyed; and hundreds of thousands became refugees as they fled with nothing.

This book is filled with emotional moments, and I got to have those moments without the narrator telling me how to feel. We experience the incredible tragedies which occurred to ordinary people as a result of the civil war.

It’s one I can highly recommend to anyone who likes historical fiction or just wants to know more about the world we live in. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. It] is a powerful work of fiction; one that reminds the reader what it means to live through war, and stand as a witness to history. Sashi dreams of becoming a doctor just like her eldest brother but after the violence of the war begins, her entire world and everything she knows turns upside down.

Sashi's med school studies and the impact of a professor there whom she sees as a role model help her to see life's complexities and to see her human behavior in a larger context. In 1981 Jaffna, sixteen-year-old Sashikala “Sashi” Kulenthiren dreams of becoming a doctor just like her eldest brother Niranjan and her late grandfather who was a renowned physician in Colombo. 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. In “Brotherless Night” this pain is strikingly brought to life through the eyes of Sashi, a beautifully realized character who reminds us horror is often suffered by humanity in places not necessarily illuminated by our newsfeed or social media trends. Living in our western cocoon of comfort and security we find it difficult to understand the relentless suffering of so many in other parts of the world.