KEY POINTS:
LOVE MARRIAGE
By V.V. Ganeshananthan
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, $38.99
The problem with this first novel is that it's too easy to put down, as it's told in a series of ultra-short vignettes.
The narrator, Yalini, becomes the keeper of her family's history when her uncle, a Tamil Tiger, comes to Toronto to die. The story is a fiddly one, filled with a multiplicity of characters, themes and the complexity of Sri Lankan history.
While its layered structure makes it easier to follow the many threads, it also provides endless resting places, and I never felt fully engaged with the narrative or could raise much feeling for Yalini, caught between tradition and the modern world. And that's a shame because, aside from that, this family drama is thought-provoking and beautifully written.
