A lyrical and profoundly moving story of love, loss and civil war, set in Sri Lanka, London and Venice.When author Theo Samarajeeva returns to his native Sri Lanka after his wife’s death, he hopes to escape his gnawing loss amid the lush landscape of his increasingly war-torn country. But as he sinks into life in this beautiful, tortured land, he also finds himself slipping into friendship with an artistic young girl, Nulani, whose family is caught up in the growing turmoil. Soon friendship blossoms into love. Under the threat of civil war, their affair offers a glimmer of hope to a country on the brink of destruction…But all too soon, the violence which has cast an ominous shadow over their love story explodes, tearing them apart. Betrayed, imprisoned and tortured, Theo is gradually stripped of everything he once held dear – his writing, his humanity and, eventually, his love. Broken by the belief her lover is dead, Nulani flees Sri Lanka to a cold and lonely life of exile. As the years pass and the country descends into a morass of violence and hatred, the tragedy of Theo and Nulani's failed love spreads like a poison among friends sickened by the face of civil war, and the lovers must struggle to recover some of what they have lost and to resurrect, from the wreckage of their lives, a fragile belief in the possibility of redemption.Beautifully written, by turns heartbreaking and uplifting, `Mosquito’ is a first novel of remarkable and compelling power.
--This text refers to the
Kindle Edition
edition.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In Tearne's beautifully crafted debut, middle-aged novelist Theo Samarajeeva leaves London after the death of his wife and returns to his native Colombo, Sri Lanka, which has been ravaged by the continuing civil war between Tamil separatists and the Sinhalese majority government. In his many novels, Theo, who is Sinhalese, empathizes with the Tamil cause, but he refuses to take any extra precautions for his own safety on returning, despite the danger his books bring. After teenage artist Nulani Mendis, whose father was burnt alive by separatists, continually appears in his garden, where she draws in solitude, Theo commissions her to paint his portrait. As Theo and Nulani's lives become increasingly intertwined, genuine romance begins to unfold, but dangers lurk: a menacing former Tamil child solider, Vikram, has taken a liking to Nulani; meanwhile, Nulani's venomous uncle soon learns of the relationship with Theo. Tearne captures the desperation, fear and hope of love during wartime, showing multiple sides of the human capacity for survival. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From Booklist
After a self-imposed exile in London, writer Theo Samarajeeva returns to his homeland of Sri Lanka, which is on the brink of a violent uprising. Determined to write and to grieve over the death of his murdered wife, Theo is surprised by the friendship and blossoming love between himself and a young Sri Lankan artist, Nulani Mendis. Just as the two begin to create a life together, the encroaching civil war shatters their plans, casting them adrift and changing their lives forever. Tearne’s painterly approach to narrative renders visible the memory of love, the sensations of hope, and the heart-wrenching brutality of a war-torn nation. Mosquito depicts the Sri Lankan landscape just as beautifully as it explores its characters’ emotional pain and sense of longing. Like García Márquez in Love in the Time of Cholera, Tearne addresses questions of enduring love and the power of memory, guiding the reader into times of hopelessness but clinging to the traces of love that buoy the characters through unimaginable trials and sorrow. --Heather Paulson
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"We are not normal. We can not speak in normal voices ever again. Even if the peace comes.",
By
This review is from: Mosquito (Paperback)
Theo Saramajeeva, a successful writer and film-maker in London, has returned to his native country, Sri Lanka, seeking solace in his spiritual "home" following the traumatic death of his Italian wife. The civil war is on, and Sinhalese government soldiers patrol the roads and beaches. Though Theo, a Sinhalese, sees much evil in his own people and much good in the enemy Tamils, he does not fear violence to himself--he believes that reason can triumph, given a chance. In a separate plot line, Vikram, a Tamil boy soldier-killer, is adopted by a Sinhalese at age twelve and provided with schooling and a better life, but his guardian is gone for years at a time, leaving Vikram virtually on his own. Remembering the terrible deaths of his family, he soon finds his own spiritual "home," once again, among the Tamils--both the separatists and those who want more than a separate state--Tamil domination of the entire country.
Nulani Mendis, a seventeen-year-old Sinhalese with a brutally violent uncle, a high-ranking government soldier, has been mute after watching her father burned to death. She has a fine talent as an artist, however, and when she meets Theo, who is twenty-eight years older than she, she begins to reenter the world again as she sets out to paint his portrait. Gradually, and carefully, they fall in love. Vikram, the prowling Tamil spy, now sixteen, is also in love with her. When the war explodes in the countryside where these characters live, the Sinhalese, their associates, and friends find that they can no longer recognize the world as human. Though they know that "Living has always been a desperate business," many have found "art as our highest form of hope," but now relocation, imprisonment, torture, murder, and slow death become the norm, and there is no hope, other than escape, physical or emotional. Unconscionable violence alternates with scenes of exquisite love and the serenity of nature, leading to a fast-paced, suspenseful novel in which hope can never be completely extinguished. Roma Tearne, who grew up in Sri Lanka, crafts a powerful novel, combining the horrifying violence and brutality of brainwashed boy soldiers and opportunistic power seekers with the sometimes lyrical portrayal of nature and the enduring power of love. Now a painter and film-maker in London, as well as a gifted writer, Tearne makes the fraught atmosphere come alive through almost tactile sense impressions, adding depth to this portrait of Sri Lanka, even as she uses the mosquito symbol to show that beauty, when it can be found, always comes with a price. n Mary Whipple Bone China Heaven's Edge: A Novel, Romesh Gunesekera's mystical story of Sri Lankan violence
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read,
By Andrew (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mosquito (Paperback)
I will skip the summary, because you can find that elsewhere...this book's strength comes from the emotions - love and sorrow and hope - that it successfully evokes in the reader without being trite, overly cliched (though the girl reminded me of every beautiful Indian woman I've ever met), or reliant on deus ex machina manipulations (or karma, as I suspect the characters would call it). I would hate for the book to be type-cast as a romance or a Sri Lankan novel or a war novel, because it offers so much about universal humanity. That said, the book puts a human face on a conflict that makes little sense to Westerners (for good and bad reasons). Whatever Ms. Tearne will paint or write, she can be satisfied that she has written an astounding book (and one I'm buying to give to friends!) that will last for a long time (and as an artist myself, I could only hope for so much!). If you have ever loved anything or anyone from this part of the world, this is a great way to have one more small piece of understanding.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the Faint of Heart,
This review is from: Mosquito (Paperback)
Mosquito is a powerfully written, literary work which brings to life a horrific period in the modern history of Sri Lanka. It is also a tale of triumph over unimaginable tragedy and brutality.
After wealthy author, Theo Samarajeeva's wife is killed by a mugger on a dark, London street, he returns to his native Sri Lanka to try to find peace and inspiration in that lushly beautiful but dangerous country. He meets and falls in love with a lovely, young artist but "time and unforeseen occurrence" intervenes. Civil war between the Sinhalese and the Tamil Tigers has broken out and Theo is kidnapped and held captive for several years. Thinking he is dead, both his best friends and his young love try to make new lives for themselves far from Sri Lanka but nothing can ease the pain of his disappearance. Some of the descriptions of warfare and torture are so brutal, they are difficult to digest. And yet Ms. Tearne's love for her country shines through in the magnificence of her descriptions. She is after all, herself, an artist. This is a difficult book to read and yet I am not sorry to have done so. I have often heard of the problems between the Tamils and the Sri Lankan government but this is the first time I have ever fully understood it. This is definitely an intense novel and not for the "faint of heart".
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