It is one thing to read a wholly fictitious tale that makes you cry

• Book: In The Shadow of the Banyan
• Location: Cambodia
• Author: Vaddey Ratner

It is one thing to read a wholly fictitious tale that makes you cry – it is quite another to read a story that breaks your heart because the exquisite prose captures the truth of very real historical events. Set in Cambodia at the time of the Khmer Rouge, we follow Raami and her family as they suffer unspeakable terror and deprivation at the hands of the ‘Organisation’. The author tells us at the end of the book that Raami’s story is essentially her own, although it is only her father who has his real name throughout the story. Their relationship is crucial to the heart of the book – an unbreakable bond that sustains her in her determination to survive – his physical presence endlessly missed but ultimately not necessary for Raami’s future. It is impossible to explain just how beautifully Vaddey Ratner manages to paint for us the rice paddies, the dragonflies and the lotus blossoms while at the same time describing the brutality of the revolution. Read this book. You will weep for Raami, her mother and her country but you will cheer their incredible spirit and feel somewhat pathetic for moaning about the British weather! Truly remarkable, wonderfully evocative of time and place and ultimately extremely moving – the latter being a ridiculous understatement.

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