This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan war Poignant narratives from the island country’s battle-worn landscape

Samanth Subramanian’s This Divided Island tells the story of Sri Lanka’s violent civil war and its impact on a people that lost its lives and homes, and its future. Filled with deeply personal war stories, the book will have you reading with fists clenched. Whilethe emerald isle looks like a delicate teardrop on the map to most people, in Subramanian’s telling, it becomes a live grenade, with Jaffna as its pin.
 

In the wake of decades of the bloody civil war that ripped the country apart, Subramanian travels across the island nation, meeting the perpetrators, instigators and victims in search of answers. And it’s evident that the dust is still settling. The atmosphere in Sri Lanka is still tense; it’s a country still very much at odds with itself. Beyond the poignant narratives though, Subramanian’s stories are a window to this oft-ignored country and its complex people, all examined with a keen eye for detail. And the narrative isn’t always sordid. The author deftly transforms the narrative from a political dialogue on a touchy topic to a colourful, brilliant travelogue.

Sri Lanka’s government has always kept international reportage on the northern part of the country
to a minimum, and a new ruling has closed this part to the world again. one way of getting a glimpse into this war-torn region that’s slowly picking up the pieces.

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