Suncatcher
A Novel
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The internationally celebrated (and Booker Prize–shortlisted) author returns with a dazzling coming-of-age story set in post-independence Sri Lanka
"A master storyteller."
—The New York Times
Ceylon is on the brink of change. But young Kairo is at loose ends. School is closed, the government is in disarray, the press is under threat, and the religious right are flexing their muscles. Kairo's hardworking mother blows off steam at her cha-cha-cha classes; his Trotskyist father grumbles over the state of the nation between his secret bets on horse races in faraway England. All Kairo wants to do is hide in his room and flick through secondhand westerns and superhero comics, or escape on his bicycle and daydream.
Then he meets the magnetic teenage Jay, and his whole world is turned inside out.
A budding naturalist and a born rebel, Jay keeps fish and traps birds for an aviary he is building in the garden of his grand home. As Jay guides Kairo from the realm of make-believe into one of hunting guns and fast cars and introduces him to a girl— Niromi—Kairo begins to understand the price of privilege and embarks on a journey of devastating consequence.
Taut and luminous, graceful and wild, Suncatcher is a poignant coming-of-age novel about difficult friendships and sudden awakenings set among the tumult of 1960s Sri Lanka, that confirms Gunesekera's status as one of today's most lyrical writers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gunesekera's engrossing coming-of-age tale (after Noon Tide Toll) explores the porous class boundaries in 1960s Ceylon. After schools close in the city of Columbo due to government upheaval, preteen Kairo fills his time hanging out with an older, enigmatic wealthy boy named Jay. Kairo is intrigued by Jay's aquariums and aviary, and after watching a bird take flight, he muses on the time he'd spent "waiting for someone like Jay to turn up and switch on the lights." As Kairo spends more time with Jay and Jay's uncle Elvin, who considers himself a refined gentleman and is the owner of an extensive gun collection and numerous cars, Jay introduces Kairo to fishing and hunting, and the younger boy begins identifying with Jay's grand lifestyle. In addition, Kairo is fascinated by Jay's beautiful mother, who drinks in the daytime and has an antagonistic relationship with Jay's father. As Jay's family falls apart and Jay becomes despondent over the disappearance of their favorite bird, Kairo realizes that while his own family lacks the wealth and eccentricity of Jay's family, their stability is worth appreciating. Gunesekera successfully captures an adolescent's cravings for a wealthy lifestyle and the ensuing loss of innocence in the face of tumult. This will move readers.
