In the Shadow of the Banyan
A Novel
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4.3 • 201 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A beautiful celebration of the power of hope, this New York Times bestselling novel tells the story of a girl who comes of age during the Cambodian genocide.
You are about to read an extraordinary story, a PEN Hemingway Award finalist “rich with history, mythology, folklore, language and emotion.” It will take you to the very depths of despair and show you unspeakable horrors. It will reveal a gorgeously rich culture struggling to survive through a furtive bow, a hidden ankle bracelet, fragments of remembered poetry. It will ensure that the world never forgets the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in the Cambodian killing fields between 1975 and 1979, when an estimated two million people lost their lives. It will give you hope, and it will confirm the power of storytelling to lift us up and help us not only survive but transcend suffering, cruelty, and loss.
For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours, bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as the Khmer Rouge attempts to strip the population of every shred of individual identity, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of her childhood—the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights for her improbable survival. Displaying the author’s extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyan is a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The struggle for survival is relayed with elegance and humility in Ratner's autobiographical debut novel set in Khmer Rouge era Cambodia. Raami is seven when civil war erupts, and she and her family are forced to leave Phnom Penh for the countryside. As minor royalty, they're in danger; the Khmer Rouge is systematically cleansing the country of wealthy and educated people. Escaping their Phnom Penh home aboard a rusty military vehicle, a gold necklace is traded for rice, and literacy can mean death; "They say anyone with glasses reads too much... the sign of an intellectual." Amid hunger, the loss of much of her family, and labor camp toil, Raami clings to the beauty that her father has shown her in traditional mythology and his own poetry. Raami's story closely follows that of Ratner's own: a child when the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975, she endured years under their rule until she and her mother escaped to the United States in 1981. This stunning memorial expresses not just the terrors of the Khmer Rouge but also the beauty of what was lost. A hauntingly powerful novel imbued with the richness of old Cambodian lore, the devastation of monumental loss, and the spirit of survival.
Customer Reviews
In the shadow of the Banyan
A powerful tale that tugs at one's heart in nearly every page! The story truly does give a voice to all the survival Khmer people who had suffered the atrocities, and also to those who are with us in spirit!
Assignment Turned Favorite
I was assigned to read this book for my sophomore English class. The first few chapters were kind of hard to get into, but I was amazed with how much I loved this book. The characters and their development living through tragedy are beautiful written. I highly recommend this book!
Reliving memories
Quite a number of years ago, I had the good fortune of an educational tour of Vietnam and Cambodia with two Professors from Cornell University. I clearly remember visiting the "killing fields" and the associated museums, and being so absolutely appalled by what had happened in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The world knew little about this genocide at the time I visited. This book, so touchingly written, put a real face on that part of history for me. Thanks to the author for her eloquent prose and vivid images of one of the most horrendous slaughters in world history.
Susan