In the Shadow of the Banyan

Starred review from May 21, 2012
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. Agent: Emma Sweeney.

This debut novel, based on the author's real-life experiences in the killing fields of Cambodia, is history brought to life--with all the nuances of innocence lost and grief suffered. Narrator Greta Lee does the impeccably written narrative justice with her delivery of the protagonist's voice, wrenching empathy from the spellbound listener. Lee's tone has a sweetness befitting the child's perspective from which the story is told. Her gentleness also serves to keep the bleakness of the plot from overwhelming the listener. The cadences of the well-crafted sentences provide a narrative drive that sweeps the listener into the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge as though they were happening now. M.R. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine