Why you should read Ruins by Rajith Savanadasa
We’re delighted that Rajith Savanadasa’s debut novel is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Here’s why we think you should read this book.
1. Ruins is a refreshing take on the ‘big, messy, dysfunctional family’ narrative.
Many of us here at Readings are big fans of novels about dysfunctional families (who isn’t?) and it’s an area of literature that’s often dominated by American fiction. So it was exciting to get our hands on Ruins. Set in busy, bustling Colombo during the aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war, the novel explores the class, racial and generational divides of a big, messy family.
2. Ruins is a rare thing in fiction – a successful polyphonic novel that contains multiple voices.
It’s hard enough to craft one original voice in fiction, but for Ruins Savanadasa has crafted no less than five distinct, compelling voices. As the story progresses, readers view the unfolding events through the perspectives of the five main characters – mother, father, daughter, son, servant – crafting a layered, panoramic view.
3. You will care deeply for the characters.
The characters who populate this novel are deeply flawed, interesting, believable characters who stayed in our imagination long after finishing the final page. The family’s patriarch and matriarch, Mano and Lakshmi, are floundering in their marriage, while their two children, Anoushka and Niranjan, are struggling with cultural beliefs they find stifling. And their long-suffering servant, Latha, is questioning her allegiances following the tragic death of her nephew.
4. Ruins pushes back against the idea that Australian storytelling must be set in Australia.
This is an excellent novel for people who believe that Australian literature is too insular. Ruins is testament to the breadth of Australian storytelling – and demonstrates how the stories our writers tell don’t need to be set on our own shores.
5. Ruins provides insight into the Sri Lankan Civil War, a conflict most Australian readers will have little knowledge of.
The Sri Lankan Civil War was an armed conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. In 1983 there was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), and after a 26-year military campaign, the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers. While the civil war was purportedly brought to an end in May 2009, the repercussions on people’s lives continue today. This conflict is important to learn more about for its own sake, but also because it has had a direct impact here in Australia – numerous Tamwhil asylum seekers have fled as a result and many have arrived in Australia.
