Yasodhara is the protagonist and narrates most of the novel. She is born in Sri Lanka as ethnic tensions are rising on the island. She is privileged in comparison to Shiva, her neighbor and friend who lives in the apartment above her, because of her Sinhalese background and her parents’ access to education and work. Her family is well-off enough to flee the increasing violence in Sri Lanka and escape to America, where they experience economic difficulty and racism as immigrants learning to navigate a new country and culture.

Yasodhara’s passion is books. She reads every moment she can—“in the bathtub, at the dinner table, on the bus” (116). Her appearance is defined by “a plainness that suited Jane Eyre” with a “flat listless wall of hair” and dull eyes (119), at least in comparison with her beautiful younger sister. Yasodhara is an imperfect character—she lets jealousy interfere with her relationships, and she lies to her daughter when she doesn’t know how to explain Lanka’s death—but these imperfections make her a realistic character and a trustworthy narrator. She does not attempt to justify one side of the war over another but promises to tell the story of her family, which she acknowledges “is also one possible

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now