Upon completing this novel, I sought to confirm that parts of this story are based on the writer's own life. The writing is so evocative of time, place and the emotional impact of dislocation that it had to have been experienced personally. This, indeed, was the case.
The main character in the story is Alice Fonseka, daughter of a Tamil father and Singhalese mother, as was the author. When the families safety is threatened the father decides it is time for the family to relocate to London, to continue the fight from afar. This is devastating for Alice and her mother as it means leaving the most important people in their lives behind, the much loved parents of Sita and grandparents of Alice, Bee and Kamala. Bee is a locally renowned artist and Alice has inherited his passion and talent. Mother, Sita has also tragically just lost their second child in childbirth through racial negligence. Her marriage is strained and the immigration to a foreign country increases the pressure on this fractured family.
The story covers the following thirty years of their lives in England where they never fully acclimatise to the environment and culture. The story opens and closes with the Brixton terrorist bombings and we discover the horrific impact that such acts of violence have on the lives of ordinary people.
Once again this author has produced a profound work of fiction, written in beautiful lyrical prose. Her skill at creating visual images of a paradise torn by civil war is remarkable. If you have never read this writer I recommend that you do. ( )

I followed the civil war in Ceylon / Sri Lanka with horror through the 1980s and 1990s, it seemed a bloody and, as these civil wars often are, pointless war, mirroring our own conflict in Northern Ireland. I was therefore interested to read Roma Tearne's novel set in that period and I had very much enjoyed The Swimmer. This is a novel of tragedy, whereas I long for happy endings of some kind and so was unsatisfactory but there must be a reason why Roma Tearne gave us so many sad stories within this one novel. The main character is Alice, who leaves Sri Lanka as a young girl of about ten years old for the UK and I was interested to read this mirrored Roma Tearne's own experiences. In the novel Alice is unhappy but has a strength of character that is noble and sees her through difficult times. Her mother Sita is grieving for a lost baby and homeland and provides little support beyond financial support for her daughter. The narrative starts in Sri Lanka, a world of bright blue skies and sea the colour of the sky, this is painted as an island of great beauty. The story moves to London and then occasionally flits back to Sri Lanka for an 'update' on how the family remaining there are doing (generally not very well). A well constructed novel that I found hard going at first but then did lose myself in and became immersed in. ( )

This is one of the most intense narratives I've read. The story centres around Sita and her daughter Alice Fonseka, and their family's experiences of the conflict and civil war in Sri Lanka and the migration to London of Sita, Alice and their father while the rest of the family stays in Sri Lanka. The story centres around family and loss; the loss of a child, childhood, family members, marriage, homeland, identity and eventually life itself through acts of terrorism and civil war. There are no happy endings - the moments of happiness and hope are short lived. Roma Tearne's story may well be informed through autobiography and there is no doubting the power of her writing and her ability to conjure up place and mood - the descriptions of the sea and coast in Sri Lanka are vivid. However, my main gripe with this story is the unrelenting despair and the way any glimmer of hope is soon snuffed out. While this may well be the case in real life for many migrants- particularly those fleeing war zones, this doesn't need to be the case in a novel where it is possible to offer alternative versions of life- at least for migrant children and the 2nd generation, and to offer the characters a greater protagonist role. I'm glad I've read this book but I'm not sure I'll be queuing up to read any more. ( )

This book contains tragedy on a grand scale. Just when it seems we are done with the heartbreak along comes a little bit more. The matter-of-factness with which much of it is described makes it, if anything, more hard-hitting.

In the novel the central character Alice leaves her native Sri Lanka at a time of massive social unrest, and moves with her parents to London. This journey takes place at around the halfway point of the novel, and the rest covers her growing up in the UK. I did think the early stage dragged a bit – the fact that the family were to move was flagged up in the synopsis on the back cover, and early on in the story, and yet for 200 pages the status quo was more or less maintained with those pages covering a few months compared to the 30-odd years left to the second half. I learned three key facts from the first half. Tamils were badly treated in Sri Lanka. Alice had a great relationship with her grandparents. Sri Lanka has fantastic beaches. I felt sure these facts could have been conveyed in fewer pages leaving more space for the later characters who were starved of oxygen. Tim we barely got to know, and Tessa and Cressida were convenient caricatures.

What the book did do, however, was send me off to google the troubles in Sri Lanka, which as the author was at pains to point out, were largely ignored by the West. If she set out to put us all in the picture as regards how brutal it was, she has succeeded. ( )

Opening in the chaotic aftermath of the 7/7 bombing in London, off-duty doctor, Simon, is looking for a woman he thinks to be caught up in the carnage. The action then moves in time and space to Ceylon on the brink of civil war. The plot unfolds to see how these two worlds connect.

In Ceylon, it's Alice's birthday, and she and her pregnant mother are on their way to her maternal grandparents. Alice's father is a Tamil and her mother a Sinhalese, leaving her caught between the two groups in a country dividing itself along racial lines. Following independence from Britain, this fracturing has become even more evident, friends, neighbours and even family members suddenly find themselves to be enemies. It is in this climate that Alice's father makes the decision to go to the U.K. Alice's family's decision to help Tamil friends, and even unknown people, puts them in danger.

Following the personal stories, we see the affect and tragedy of this fighting on the people. No one is unaffected by the violence. Exile was the choice of many, but it brings other problems. Alice and her parents have to adapt to a new country, new customs and come to terms with their past.

Alice has inherited the artistic nature of her grandfather, Bee, who paints in the studio by the sea. His paintings are often controversial, depicting as they do what is happening around them. Alice's talent lies more in sculpture and she creates pieces from debris - driftwood, things she finds. Art becomes her refuge and her means of expression. It is no surprise that the author is also an artist, her descriptions make the art easy to visualise.

Tearne's characters are very real, flawed but human. Alice never fits in, half-Tamil, half-Sinhalese, a Sri Lankan in London, where is her place? She is often misunderstood by other characters who don't know what to do with her, she is different. Her mother, Sita, tries to be strong, but struggles under the weight of tragedy. Bee and his wife, Kamala, are stronger, but Bee often can't see the affects of his actions. Alice's childhood friend, Janake, is a calming influence.

One criticism of the book I have read is its tempo. It does start at a more measured pace, but gets faster as it goes on. For me, this wasn't a bad device. While you wanted to read more about Alice's later life, the speed reflects life as it is. When you are young, life seems eternal, but seems to get faster as you grow up.

Highly recommended. ( )