the story of a brief marriage by anuk arudpragasam

As a couple, they would be less likely to be conscripted to fight for the rebels, and less likely to be abused in the case of an army victory. Marriage, in this world, is an attempt at safety, like the beached fishing boat under which Dinesh huddles during the bombings. Alienated from family, home, language, and body, he exists in a state of mute acceptance, numb to the violence around him, till he is approached one morning by an old man who makes an unexpected proposal: that Dinesh marry his daughter, Ganga. Amongst the evacuees is Dinesh, whose world has contracted to a makeshift camp where time is measured by the shells that fall around him like clockwork. Two and a half decades into a devastating civil war, Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority is pushed inexorably towards the coast by the advancing army. “A suspended, reverie-like innocence suffuses Anuk Arudpragasam’s Sri Lankan set civil-war romance.” - Vogue “Immersive…A portrait of life touched by war and despair, The Story of a Brief Marriage is the tale of two strangers suddenly thrust into a strange new relationship.” - BuzzFeed This extraordinary debut is of that class.” -Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You

“Very seldom in a reading life does a novel alter your sense not only of literature but of the world. This unflinching debut novel gives readers an intimate view of the brutal civil war that tore Sri Lanka apart for nearly three decades. RSVP appreciated: fill out the “Bookings” form at the bottom of this page.

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The story of a brief marriage by anuk arudpragasam