Posts Tagged ‘Sonali Deraniyagala’

Media Center: 'Wave' by Sonali Deraniyagala

February 26th, 2013

Author photoWHO: Sonali Deraniyagala

WHAT: WAVE

WHEN: Published by Knopf March 5, 2013

WHERE: The story takes place in Sri Lanka

WHY:
“An indelible and unique story of loss and resolution written with breathtaking refinement and courage.

“It was a festive time. Economist Deraniyagala, her economist husband, and their two young sons flew from London to Sri Lanka to spend the winter holidays with her parents. They were all staying in a hotel near their favorite national park on the day of the tsunami.
“Deraniyagala describes their bewilderment as they flee the hotel and her terror as they are swept up by the 30-foot-high, racing wave that brutally changed everything. Only Deraniyagala survived.
“In rinsed-clear language, she describes her ordeal, surreal rescue, and deep shock, attaining a Didionesque clarity and power. We hold tight to every exquisite sentence as, with astounding candor and precision, she tracks subsequent waves of grief, from suicidal despair to persistent fear, attempts to drown her pain in drink, ‘helpless rage,’ guilt and shame, and paralyzing Jacket photodepression. But here, too, are sustaining tides of memories that enable her to vividly, even joyfully, portray her loved ones.”
—Donna Seaman, BOOKLIST

“Devastating but ultimately redemptive…Reading this account proves almost as cathartic as writing it must have been.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Rarely are we given a story of such narrative force and poetic simplicity.” —Mary Karr

Media Resources:
About the book | Author bio | Download the jacket or the author photo| Listen to the RH Audiobook

Publicist for this title:
Gabrielle Brooks | 212-572-2152 | gbrooks@randomhouse.com