For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours, bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as the Khmer Rouge attempts to strip the population of every shred of individual identity, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of her childhood— the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights for her improbable survival. Displaying the author’s extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyan is a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience.
In the Shadow of the Banyan: A Novel
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Book Description
You are about to read an extraordinary story. It will take you to the very depths of despair and show you unspeakable horrors. It will reveal a gorgeously rich culture struggling to survive through a furtive bow, a hidden ankle bracelet, fragments of remembered poetry. It will ensure that the world never forgets the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, when an estimated two million people lost their lives. It will give you hope, and it will confirm the power of storytelling to lift us up and help us not only survive but transcend suffering, cruelty, and loss.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Ratner's remarkable debut novel transforms her childhood experiences into the finest of literary fiction . . . A powerful testament to the tenacity of love and family in the face of unspeakable inhumanity."--Indie Next List Great Reads
“Lyrical . . . It’s Raami’s mother who will stay in your heart . . . Somehow she retains the will to survive and the strength to help others, fiercely telling her daughter, ‘Remember who you are.’” (People, four stars)
“How is it that so much of this bleak novel is full of beauty, even joy? . . . What is remarkable, and honorable, here is the absence of anger, and the capacity—seemingly infinite—for empathy.” (New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice))
“The horrors committed by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, as experienced by one extremely resilient girl. A brutal novel, lyrically told.” (O, The Oprah Magazine)
“Unputdownable.” (Better Homes and Gardens)
“Lyrical . . . a love story to her homeland and an unflinching account of innocents caught in the crossfire of fanaticism.” (Parade)
“A tale of perseverance, hope and the drive toward life.” (The Washington Post)
“Humanity . . . shines through in her storytelling.” (The Wall Street Journal)
“For all the atrocities witnessed and hardships experienced, Ratner’s story is filled to an even larger extent with opportunism and beauty. Ratner’s gift is her exquisite descriptions of the careful details of daily life . . . Ratner describes her desire to memorialize the loved ones she lost with an enduring work of art. She has done just that; hers is a beautiful tale with considerable poetry and restraint. In the Shadow of the Banyan is an important novel, written by a survivor with unexpected grace and eloquence.” (Audrey Magazine)
“The powerful story of how even the most brutal regime lacked the power of a father’s love for his daughter.” (The Daily Beast)
“Gorgeous . . . Ratner bears witness to the unyielding human spirit.” (Washingtonian)
“Lyrical . . . It’s Raami’s mother who will stay in your heart . . . Somehow she retains the will to survive and the strength to help others, fiercely telling her daughter, ‘Remember who you are.’” (People, four stars)
“How is it that so much of this bleak novel is full of beauty, even joy? . . . What is remarkable, and honorable, here is the absence of anger, and the capacity—seemingly infinite—for empathy.” (New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice))
“The horrors committed by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, as experienced by one extremely resilient girl. A brutal novel, lyrically told.” (O, The Oprah Magazine)
“Unputdownable.” (Better Homes and Gardens)
“Lyrical . . . a love story to her homeland and an unflinching account of innocents caught in the crossfire of fanaticism.” (Parade)
“A tale of perseverance, hope and the drive toward life.” (The Washington Post)
“Humanity . . . shines through in her storytelling.” (The Wall Street Journal)
“For all the atrocities witnessed and hardships experienced, Ratner’s story is filled to an even larger extent with opportunism and beauty. Ratner’s gift is her exquisite descriptions of the careful details of daily life . . . Ratner describes her desire to memorialize the loved ones she lost with an enduring work of art. She has done just that; hers is a beautiful tale with considerable poetry and restraint. In the Shadow of the Banyan is an important novel, written by a survivor with unexpected grace and eloquence.” (Audrey Magazine)
“The powerful story of how even the most brutal regime lacked the power of a father’s love for his daughter.” (The Daily Beast)
“Gorgeous . . . Ratner bears witness to the unyielding human spirit.” (Washingtonian)
About the Author
Vaddey Ratner was five years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975. In 1981 she arrived in the United States as a refugee not knowing English and ultimately went on to graduate summa cum laude from Cornell University. She lives in Potomac, Maryland.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
142 of 147 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exquisite, evocative, heart-wrenching tale of life under the Khmer Rouge (and the most touching book I've read in a long time)
July 8, 2012
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I first learned of this book when I read the first chapter in a Simon & Schuster 2012 releases preview. I knew then I needed to read the rest of the book as soon as I could. I now have, and it is an amazing book.
It is amazing that this book was even written. The author was five when the Khmer Rouge overran Cambodia. (Which is the story, of course.) While a million or more died, including many of her relatives, she survived. She made it to America at eleven, not knowing English. But she graduated summa cum laude from Cornell. Amazing, indeed, that a mind of this quality survived to bear witness to the horror.
Even more amazing is how well she has learned to write in an adopted language. She puts many native writers to shame. In fact, she brings to mind Conrad as a non-native writer who has made English her own. And comparisons to Conrad I do not make frivolously.
While beautifully, even gloriously, written, I can't say this book is easy to read. Some parts soar, but other parts describe horrible, shocking, conditions under the Khmer Rouge. The writing is wonderful, but the truth is terrible. I cried many times reading this book.
A native English writer myself, I am almost at a loss for words in describing this book. The author captures her love for her father and his learning, her pain at his loss, and the horrors of her survival under the Khmer Rouge, in terms so wonderful that I feel inadequate to the task of summarizing them. I envy her prose. It is glorious.
Much recent American fiction follows the line of: I didn't get what I wanted, so life is unfair, boo hoo. If you want to understand true human misery and struggle, it is revealed in this book.
It is amazing that this book was even written. The author was five when the Khmer Rouge overran Cambodia. (Which is the story, of course.) While a million or more died, including many of her relatives, she survived. She made it to America at eleven, not knowing English. But she graduated summa cum laude from Cornell. Amazing, indeed, that a mind of this quality survived to bear witness to the horror.
Even more amazing is how well she has learned to write in an adopted language. She puts many native writers to shame. In fact, she brings to mind Conrad as a non-native writer who has made English her own. And comparisons to Conrad I do not make frivolously.
While beautifully, even gloriously, written, I can't say this book is easy to read. Some parts soar, but other parts describe horrible, shocking, conditions under the Khmer Rouge. The writing is wonderful, but the truth is terrible. I cried many times reading this book.
A native English writer myself, I am almost at a loss for words in describing this book. The author captures her love for her father and his learning, her pain at his loss, and the horrors of her survival under the Khmer Rouge, in terms so wonderful that I feel inadequate to the task of summarizing them. I envy her prose. It is glorious.
Much recent American fiction follows the line of: I didn't get what I wanted, so life is unfair, boo hoo. If you want to understand true human misery and struggle, it is revealed in this book.
109 of 117 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
In the Shadow of the Banyan is a fictionalized work that parallels author Vaddey Ratner's personal history: a (minor) royal family of privilege and education is driven from Phnom Penh during the Khmer Rouge revolution. Told from the perspective of seven-year-old Raami, the novel follows her family through years of toil and labor in the countryside of Cambodia, through monsoons, sickness, and famine. Banyan is suffused with myth and poetry, both of which play a large role in Raami's family. The storytelling is lyrical and rich and it transports the reader to the jungles, riverbanks and rice paddies of Cambodia. Ratner does an amazing job of illustrating both the horror of the genocide and the power of hope.
As beautifully written as the book is, I didn't love it. My personal preference is for stories that are driven by plot or dialog. This book is much more introspective and descriptive. I found myself skipping paragraphs, too anxious to find out what would happen next. (For comparative purposes: I had the same problem with Snow Falling on Cedars.)
Final verdict: Beautiful, but not the right book for me. I don't have the right reading temperament for Ratner's slow and deliberate style.
As beautifully written as the book is, I didn't love it. My personal preference is for stories that are driven by plot or dialog. This book is much more introspective and descriptive. I found myself skipping paragraphs, too anxious to find out what would happen next. (For comparative purposes: I had the same problem with Snow Falling on Cedars.)
Final verdict: Beautiful, but not the right book for me. I don't have the right reading temperament for Ratner's slow and deliberate style.
44 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Based on the real life experiences of the author in the 1970's, this novel is about the horror in Cambodia when the communists took over. Like the author, the main character was a child of the privileged class and when the revolution came she was hurtled into a cruel world of poverty and hunger. Her father was imprisoned and never seen again. Her uncle and cousins were sent off to labor camps to die, her baby sister was stricken with a fever and she and her mother were forced into hard labor in the rice fields. I cringed at the dreadfulness of it all and learned more than I ever wanted to know about this Cambodian genocide in which 1.7 million people (21%) of the population lost their lives.
Written in the first person, through the voice of a young girl, the characters come to life and their suffering is incredibly overwhelming in its depiction of displacement, starvation, slave labor and pain. However, there is also a streak of survival instinct in spite of their world bitterly collapsing around them.
I couldn't put this book down and couldn't take my eyes from the page because it was so well written and brought to life a time and a place and some wonderful unforgettable characters. Certainly, the memory of those who have died and suffered at this sad time in history should never be forgotten.
Written in the first person, through the voice of a young girl, the characters come to life and their suffering is incredibly overwhelming in its depiction of displacement, starvation, slave labor and pain. However, there is also a streak of survival instinct in spite of their world bitterly collapsing around them.
I couldn't put this book down and couldn't take my eyes from the page because it was so well written and brought to life a time and a place and some wonderful unforgettable characters. Certainly, the memory of those who have died and suffered at this sad time in history should never be forgotten.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing
This book is riveting real and profound. Be prepared to be glued from start to finish. I strongly recommend this novel
Published 11 hours ago by Telisha Longmore
5.0 out of 5 stars
Devastatingly beautiful
The story of post imperialism and attempts to communize Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s is every bit as devastating as any I've read about the holocaust. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Road Runner
4.0 out of 5 stars
powerful but disturbing
Vaddey Ratner's autobiographical novel is compelling and important but also disturbing to read. The destruction of Cambodian society under the Khmer Rouge, from 1975-79, is told... Read more
Published 7 days ago by bookaddict
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written; A horrific tale, that should be read and told...
This is an amazing story based on the author's experiences as a child. Her writing is fluid and full and poetry. Read more
Published 7 days ago by oldhat
5.0 out of 5 stars
moving tale told through a survivors eyes
Wonderful read by a very strong writer. The tale was told honestly and realistically without being over dramatic or depressingly sad. I would highly recommend it.
Published 8 days ago by Cyndi K.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indescribable
This is a novel based on the author's experience as a child in the Cambodian killing fields. The author was able to capture immense beauty in the human spirit amongst horrifying... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Erin DeRoos
5.0 out of 5 stars
Story
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
My husband was a Navy Corpsman in Vietnam and we traveled back to Vietnam in 2000. Read more
My husband was a Navy Corpsman in Vietnam and we traveled back to Vietnam in 2000. Read more
Published 9 days ago by june myers
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read
Learned much about Cambodia during the time of the Killing Fields.
Beautifully written through the eyes of a child More historical than fiction.
Beautifully written through the eyes of a child More historical than fiction.
Published 11 days ago by Carole Ostfeld
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful story about a horrific event
Ms. Ratner has a voice that needs hearing. The Khmer Rouge revolution in Cambodia at the end of the Vietnam War was an atrocity that should never be forgotten, like the Holocaust. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Kathy Wilke
3.0 out of 5 stars
read for a book club
Would not have been my choice. Did not like the authors choice to relate the story through a child and then use such flowery, poetic and insightful language.
Published 13 days ago by pen name
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