It is a war between equally corrupt forces. This element was perfectly ensconced in a moment where Yashodhara feels helpless and irritated in one of her futile attempts to explain to her American friends what was happening in war-torn Sri Lanka: Simply phrased, there are no easy answers.
Instead, it underscored the fact, that in a manner akin to many situations involving human interactions, wars cannot be understood in rigid barricades of black and white, but in a myriad shades of grey. The novel sought to portray the horrific civil war not as something that could be easily segregated into ‘good versus bad’, ‘right versus wrong’, ‘Tamils versus Sinhalese’. And within such a context lay a singularly essential theme that was highlighted in the novel – and one which glared at all who defied it: that of complexity. The plot of the story is propelled forth by the Sri Lankan civil conflict which raged through the years of 1983 to 2009 in the island, causing irreparable rifts between the two ethnic groups of the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils who coexisted in ostensible harmony in the years leading up to the conflagration. One feature of the book that leapt from the pages was the plethora of exquisite metaphors utilized by the author to describe the eccentricities and experiences of her characters in fact, a majority of the explosive imagery found abundantly in each page of the novel stayed true to the Lankan culture and would be undoubtedly capable of inspiring bittersweet nostalgia within the hearts of Sri Lankans inside and outside its national borders.
One of the protagonists in particular, is purposefully christened with the highly islandic name of Yashodara Rajasinghe, and she acts as the linking chain for the book’s peripheral characters in the story – namely her sister, Lanka Rajasinghe, her parents and grandparents, and her childhood friend Shiva. The novel is spearheaded by feministic insight, and the author relates the story largely through the eyes of female characters hailing from different generations. Yet while it is blithely unafraid to explore themes of outright controversy in the confines of Sri Lanka (and even beyond), the story is woven with a sense of familiarity and sensitivity – providing rich food for thought for those who find themselves grappling with tough, existential questions – spanning but not limited to ones like: ‘Why are we threatened by change?’ Set in the 1980s amid a civil conflict the island-country still has trouble alienating itself from to this very day, the novel is an incisive reminder of the ravages of war, destruction and loss on one’s psyche and lifestyle.
The substance of Nayomi Munaweera’s award-winning, debut novel, ‘Island of A Thousand Mirrors’, is very much as its title sounds – sharp and reflective.
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