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In the Shadow of the Banyan

A Novel

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In the Shadow of the Banyan

By: Vaddey Ratner
Narrated by: Greta Lee
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About this listen

 A beautiful celebration of the power of hope, this New York Times bestselling novel tells the story of a girl who comes of age during the Cambodian genocide.

You are about to read an extraordinary story, a PEN Hemingway Award finalist “rich with history, mythology, folklore, language and emotion.” It will take you to the very depths of despair and show you unspeakable horrors. It will reveal a gorgeously rich culture struggling to survive through a furtive bow, a hidden ankle bracelet, fragments of remembered poetry. It will ensure that the world never forgets the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in the Cambodian killing fields between 1975 and 1979, when an estimated two million people lost their lives. It will give you hope, and it will confirm the power of storytelling to lift us up and help us not only survive but transcend suffering, cruelty, and loss.

For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours, bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as the Khmer Rouge attempts to strip the population of every shred of individual identity, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of her childhood—the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights for her improbable survival. Displaying the author’s extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyan is a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience. Biographical Fiction Coming of Age Genre Fiction Literary Fiction United States World Literature Emotionally Gripping
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it's a beautiful book. great story, beautiful narration, very emotional, perfect to understand history and culture without reading a history book.

it's a brilliant story and narration

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Was absolutely mesmerised by this book. Beautiful writing with rich and detailed descriptions, drawing you into the characters, the place and the time. A powerful story based on real life, which makes it even more poinient. Totally recommend!

moving and brilliant

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What made the experience of listening to In the Shadow of the Banyan the most enjoyable?

The fact that it was told from the child's view, and that it was based on a true story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of In the Shadow of the Banyan?

The death and burial of big uncles baby.

What does Greta Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

She brings reality to the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It was too harrowing.

Compelling and dreadful. Excellent book.

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This book was written from the perspective of a young girl in a troubling time. it gave me pause to reflect on how lucky my life has been and to think about all the children who are living in countries where war is a part of everyday life. I learned so much about Cambodia and the history of the country and the wider impact of the Vietnam war. beautifully descriptive and well written.

Moving and emotional

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The most powerful book I have read this year. Impossibly moving, most elegantly written book, poetically even, despite writing about one of the worst and most devastating atrocities in human history. The most unique account of human resilience, even at such young age, the nourishing power of narratives and stories, even in the most unbelievably difficult times, and most of all - incredible power of love between the child and her father, which becomes a source of life force - physically, at times of the greatest famine, and emotionally at times of the most profound trauma and desolation. Instead of slipping into a self-pity, or anger, which must have required the greatest integrity, the whole book conveys the most profound humanity - in fact, there are so many very deep messages, which left a strong impression on me, that I definitely want to re-read the story again. I could not recommend it more highly.

Poetry in prose - a masterpiece of storytelling.

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