The two families symbolize, as it were, the two histories of Sri Lanka. The Kandiahs have their roots in affluent Colombo, beneficiaries of British collusion. The patriach, Thani Chelliah, is able to send his favorite daughter to the West, once he comes to terms with the place assigned him by the colonials—equal but apart. The daughter, Shanti, promulgates a dynasty with her husband, a Tamil Brahmin from Jaffna, who perhaps marries above his station.

The other story arc features the Vallipurams, from southern Jaffna, who seem to be born under a dark star, flawed, and hurtful. Raksha marries a Kandiah daughter, and becomes an alcoholic, the worst kind, before dying in an accident, aided perhaps by his wife, who wants freedom. His father, Sundar, while nominally a Buddhist, and who considers himself peaceable, non-violent, yet carries a dark brooding anger within himself, packs his daughter off to Sri Lanka to marry a stranger, who has betrayed her before her arrival, having sired a child by another woman. She discovers this betrayal when the Other Woman arrives at their house in Jaffna, bleeding and carrying a trembling child, having escaped from the slaughter of her parents by the Tamil Tigers.

Every one of the characters is trying to define their identity—sexually, politically or socially. The inability to come to terms with themselves makes them prone to slipping and sliding down the slope of temptation or betrayal. The vast sweep of time and history make a concordance almost essential, and constant reference to the family trees in the front of the book necessary. Writing styles and forms vary—such as a story where the tale is told from two points of view, both in the second person singular, or another, where the parenthetical story is a retelling of the Ramayana, with a subversive spin on the main characters. A third is epistolary, and a rare few from an external point of view—a character introduced to tell their own tangential tale, while still delineating the story arcs of one or more of the central characters. The sadness inherent in many of the characters rarely leads to any sort of catharsis for them, but the writer enables a weary catharsis in the reader.

The compact book is a whirlwind of emotion and personal adventure, with much insight that might slip by on first reading. The disparate worlds and cultures seem too close, often enough blending into one another. The political milieu of the characters is like a brooding presence, especially in the later stories, coming to the fore only in a couple. This is good, else we might be treated to a harrowing series of tales about the minutiae of oppression. The collection is a portent of good things to come from a promising author.

Note: The collection grew out of an earlier short story by Mary Anne Mohanraj, not included here, titled "Season Of Marriage"

Also, the author is on a book tour, and I hope to meet her, and report back, soon.