Island of a Thousand Mirrors: A Novel

Island of a Thousand Mirrors is the type of novel that completely sweeps the reader away into a world known little to outsiders. It gives a glimpse into the world of forbidden love, prejudice, and arranged marriages as a civil war begins to simmer in the background. It shows a world that holds strongly onto tradition and what it means to be from an affluent family.
The author Nayomi Munaweera mirrors aspects of her life into the main character Yasodhara Rajasinghe and freely expresses her feminist ideology through the little details. Yasodhara is a young woman who emigrated to the United States with her mother, father, and younger sister Lanka, known as La from Sri Lanka as the civil war was gearing into motion. The beautiful aspect of this novel is it doesn't just focus on Yasodhara but on sisterhood and the strength of family in perilous times.
The novel starts off in the year 1948 with the last of the British ships leaving Sri Lanka (at that time named Ceylon) as it officially becomes an independent nation. Yasodhara shortly introduces herself and entices the reader with telling the story of her parents (who are both Sinhalese). She begins with her father, who grows up in a fishing village raised by a father who has no issues with speaking with those of lower caste and an overbearing mother who is all high and mighty with high hopes for her children. Yasodhara's mother is an aspiring doctor, trying to follow her older brother's footsteps until a tragedy occurs forcing her to become the saving grace for her family but not before she falls into a forbidden love with the upstairs neighbor, a Tamil boy. All while this goes on the author slips in the occasional reference to the turmoil that is about to simmer and boil over between the Tamils and Sinhalese people. Shortly Yasodhara's mother is found in an arranged marriage with her father. The mother finds herself giving birth with another women in same room, and there is born Yasodhara and Shiva who will be connected in way they do not yet realize. Three years later La is born and then they leave to America. While the war rages on, years later La and Yasodhara find themselves in Sri Lanka again as adults in hopes of healing their broken hearts and to reunite with someone they thought they would never see again. In the latter half of the books arises another story, a Tamil girl who is fully submerged in the civil war, facing traumas and losses leading her from being an aspiring teacher to a different path with no hope. These two women, Yasodhara and the Tamil girl paths cross in unimaginable way leaving the reader at a loss for words. As the book comes to a close so does the war, leaving on a hopeful note.
Beautiful, detailed descriptions of island make it come to life without being too much for the senses and leaving the reader bombarded with unnecessary descriptions. With all the beautiful scenery and enticing sambals and curries the author also dwells deep into the horrors of the war with great detail, leaving the reader stunned and horrified. The characters become so real that there is no choice left but to feel what they feel and be able to experience the war, the pain, the tragedy. This novel is full of emotions and beautifully written scenes not meant for the lighthearted.

I had a bit of a different experience than others with this shorter novel chronicling two characters, Visaka and Ravan, from opposite sides of the long conflict in war-torn Sri Lanka. The idea for this novel is an outstanding one - I think there are many readers out there like myself who have little to no knowledge of the history behind this conflict and there is nothing like a well-written novel to rectify this. Where I had problems - and many others likely will NOT - is the lyrical, poetic, trip down magical realism lane. I love a good literary fiction novel. But when things start waxing *too* poetic, I start mentally checking out. And unfortunately, this is what happened for me with this novel....when things got too lyrical, I'll admit I started to skim.

So I'm going to recommend this novel only for those readers who enjoy that kind of lyrical prose type writing. If you do, you're going to LOVE this book. If you're like me and there's such a thing as *too much* prose in your lit fiction, well, you might want skip this. That's as honest as I can get here.

With all that said, I'd like to reiterate that I very much appreciate what the author was doing here, expressing this particular horrifying part of Sri Lankan history and the incredibly complex consequences for those who lived through it. Even after the official conflict ended, the repercussions for the generations that came after have been immense and this book goes a long way in expressing the pain that war inflicts...battlefields aren't where the worst casualties occur. This is a novel that reminds us of that.

For 30 years Sri Lanka was a daily awakening to an inner circle of hell. Hatred, intolerance, rape, mutilation, rape, burning people alive, violence to children, betrayal, fear, unrelenting depravity. So no, I didn't enjoy the book one little bit. In addition to the story itself I found the debut novelist's format not easy to follow.

I was not expecting to enjoy "Island of a Thousand Mirrors". I was not expecting it to be quite so complex or intelligent or thought-provoking. After many disappointing books written for Anglo audiences, intending to introduce them to a certain "exotic" culture, I was expecting Nayomi Munaweera's novel to be heart-tugging in a predictable sense, full of overwrought sentences describing scents and tastes, and a healthy dose of otherism. I apologize to Munaweera, because those were unfair expectations. I apologize, because this book is not remotely like that.

"Island of a Thousand Mirrors" is brutal at times, full of whiplash and heartbreak and anger. It's a story of war, but one without right or wrong or clear-cut borders. Munaweera's prose almost reflects a certain exhaustion by the novel's end, twisting in a way that those familiar with practically endless and unfair war will recognize all too well. There are a few stylistic choices I wasn't fond of (one specific technique I thought was ineffective and could have been written more tightly), but I found myself drawn into the characters and their stories. In the second part of the book, Munaweera's focus turns to the immigrant experience in the US, and her on-point assessments of the difficulties and adjusting to a new country make this a novel worth reading (especially since this remains a topic that is, alas, still fairly misunderstood by most non-immigrants). Writing is strong and confident, and I found myself reading the book pretty much straight through without my attention wavering too far.

Recommended.

Island of a Thousand Mirrors, by Nayomi Munaweera is the story of a woman as she flees with her family from Sri Lanka in the 80’s during the height of it’s Civil War, and emigrates to the United States. Much of this book is spent describing the culture in which the protagonist, Yasodhara, comes from, and how familial and cultural pressures dictate choices in her culture. By becoming familiar with Yasodhara’s culture, the reader is able to understand choices that she makes based on cultural pressures rather than what western society may deem acceptable. This deep and moving novel illustrates beautifully the struggles of adolescence while simultaneously giving a glimpse into the ugliness of war.
This story begins with Yasodhara introducing us to her grandparents. Both sides of her family come from well educated, high class, Sinhalese families. The grandparents remain motivated in keeping this status, as they demand high education, and try to arrange favorable marriages for their children. Unfortunately, this is less possible as sons marry for love, patriarchs die untimely deaths, and mothers are forced to do what it takes to survive. Yasodhara’s grandmother rents out a the upper portion of their modern home to make ends meet, and Yasodhara’s mother at a young age is forced to give up dreams of becoming a doctor, and focus on marrying well to reestablish her family’s status. Yasodhara’s story begins when she is born the same day as a boy from the Tamil family who is living upstairs. Although culture (as well as older generations) dictates that they be enemies, this intimate closeness breeds trust and familiarity between the children.
As tensions between the two tribes increase, their differences evolve from annoyance, to persecution, to full on war between the tribes. The violence that is described in full detail shows the ugly brutality of war, and neither side is portrayed as right. Both tribes are guilty of violence, retaliation, and disgusting crimes against the other. When the family is personally affected by this war, Yasodhara’s father moves them to the US.
A parallel story line begins during this war that describes a girl of the opposing tribe. She is approximately the same age as Yasodhara, but growing up in the same place under vastly differing circumstances show how life change so quickly.
Munaweera is able to tell a story that is moving and relevant. She not only tells the story of Sri Lanka, or Yasodhara, but she involves the entire family, and how their journey during this troubled time has impacted them. She is able to bring story lines together quite smoothly, and although names can get confusing, there is a family tree at the beginning for reference. This book brings insight to the decimating effects of war, and how difficult it can be to mesh cultures. I would highly recommend this book, but beware that it is quite graphic at times. The reason that it is so moving is because it hits so deep, and I don’t think it could do that if it glossed over very real factors.

Part family epic, Sri-Lankan history, and emigre saga, Nayomi Numaweera's debut novel unravels the complexities of an island that can be simultaneously beautiful as the shimmering of (the titled) thousand mirrors and brutal as "the shards of a thousand broken bottles."

With graceful lyricism and inflections of magical realism, Numaweera's narrative unfolds the very personal experiences of women living through what seems to an American audience as a very abstract war. Acknowledging that we all are "interlopers" through history, the novel starts well before the birth of the narrator Yasodhara's, giving the reader time to savor the beauty of the island before governmental corruption and ethnic tension tear it asunder. As we follow Yasodhara through childhood, adolescence and finally into entrenched adulthood, we learn that the lines between Tamal and Singhala, the two opposing ethic groups, are more tenuous than thought and that this conflict is no simple, black and white matter. Like most internal conflicts, it is mired in ambiguity, wherein there are no clear victors. What remains are only survivors. Numaweera's Tamil Tiger character, Saraswathi, reminds the reader of this.

This debut novel is both beautiful and brutal, lyrical and terse and Numaweera has proven herself a literary presence that is here to stay. So read to educate oneself on this conflict, read for the beauty of the prose, and finally, read to reaffirm that love can grow from even the most arid of environs.

I just finished this novel for my book club - we all loved it! We had the pleasure of speaking with the author herself on a zoom call. Nayomi Munaweeera is fiercely feminist, thoughtful and well spoken; I am looking forward to reading all of her books to come.

Island of a thousand mirrors is a tender, well researched and captivating historical fiction about the Civil War in Sri Lanka. The strong female characters keep your attention and pull at your heart strings. The fluid narrative ties the book together, shedding light on how the war impacted the character's lives for decades (in both Sri Lanka and the US). It speaks to the trauma of war and what remains, how all too often women carry the weight in society, and the resiliency of the human spirit.

The vivid imagery also made me want to visit Sri Lanka, enjoy the lush tropical atmosphere and swim in the ocean. I can't wait to share this book with others. Stop reading this review and go buy it already!

This novel is an excellent window drawing us into understanding the situation on Sri Lanka. The socio-historical aspect is very well developed and the fact that it is presented in narrative form, with characters to care about, makes it a wonderful way to digest the knowledge.

In novel form we absorb the attitudes and mores of Sri Lankans; we learn of their cultures and conflicts. So too do we meet the island itself - its tropical flavors, odors, flora and fauna and the very air its peoples breathe.

This is done via a story involving the lives of the main characters and their families. The only criticism I have is that in the first half of the book, this was not easy to discern, follow. I think the author needs to step back from the culture she knows so well, and look at the narrative from the point of view of those who have no familiarity with it.

It is true that there are some very unpleasant realities and some of those, especially from the first part of the book, are lingering in my mind like nightmares. This book would not be appropriate for anyone not yet an adult.

When I was teaching social studies in Singapore many years ago, I remember covering the civil war in Sri Lanka, a beautiful country torn asunder by the violent conflict between the Tamils and Sinhalese. Nayomi Munaweera’s novel, “Island of a Thousand Mirrors” is beautifully-written, with evocative descriptions of time and place, rich in details, and the story draws the reader in, engaging the reader’s interest as this saga of family and history unfolds.

This is a complex, multi-layered story made even more interesting as the story’s principal characters are two women from diverse backgrounds, one Tamil and the other Sinhala, and whose voices ring credible throughout this compelling narrative. Those who enjoy learning about other cultures, of discovering the complexity of conflicts within a country, and who appreciate a well-narrated story, will find much to savor here.

Nayomi Munaweera's Island of a Thousand Mirrors is a heartbreaking story of the Sri Lankan civil war and ethnic conflicts and how they affect two families. The narration shifts between two young women as they mature, each unknown to the other, but whose paths are inextricably linked. Munaweera writes very well. Her characters and their stories are empathetic and readable. I really enjoyed this novel--it sheds light on a conflict that I was only marginally aware of. Well done!