The Seasons of Trouble: Life Amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka's Civil War

Over three decades, civil war instilled deep fear and hate among millions in the multi-ethnic country of Sri Lanka. In 2009, when the army finally defeated the Tamil Tigers guerrillas, about 300,000 civilians were swept up in the end game, and estimates say the death toll exceeded 40,000. Peace was celebrated. But what is an ordinary life in the aftermath of war? Rohini Mohan's searing account of three lives caught up in the devastation shows how war continues long after the cessation of hostilities. When city-bred Sarva is dragged off the streets by state forces, his mother, Indra, searches for him through the labyrinthine Sri Lankan system. Meanwhile, Mugil, once a child soldier with the Tigers, tries to rebuild her life as a civilian, hiding her past, first in refugee camps and finally in a new settlement far from her family home. Their turbulent journeys reveal the realities of day-to-day life in a tumultuous postwar world wracked by violence and mistrust. The Seasons of Trouble is the result of five years' reportage -a startling and brutal, yet beautifully written debut from a prize-winning journalist.