Sri Lanka has a lot to offer for the adventurous traveller: The lush green highlands scattered with picturesque tea plantations; vast dry zones where huge, 5,000 strong crowds of wild elephants congregate around ancient reservoirs; crumbling, millenia old cities and colonial fortresses; and pristine, sun-kissed beaches. However, the country also has a complicated and often desperate history. While the lavish riches of the Kandyan kingdom once ruled the island, colonial invaders – the Portuguese, Dutch and British – spent centuries fighting for control of what was once called Ceylon, sowing the seeds of cultural divisions that lead to a devastating 25-year civil war that ended just a decade ago. Unfortunately, just as Sri Lanka was beginning to thrive, it was hit by natural disaster in the form of 2004’s deadly Tsunami and more recently, a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks that killed nearly 300 people.
It is safe to say that the island has stories to tell, stories that should be explored before visiting the teardrop island in order to truly understand it. I’ve compiled a list of biographies, travelogues and contemporary fiction that will hopefully give you an insight into Sri Lanka’s history before you visit, or at least make you feel like you are exploring from the comfort of your own armchair.
Sri Lanka Travelogues
Elephant Complex by John Gimlette
In what is possibly the best and most in-depth exploration of contemporary Sri Lanka, John Gimlette travels to the country as it emerging from twenty-six years of civil war. He delves deep into the nation’s history, exploring every corner of the island, from the exuberant capital, Colombo, the tsunami-ravaged southeast coast, the great green highlands and onwards to the northern crucibles of war, Jaffna and Vanni, all the while giving a wry and humorous insight into modern-day Sri Lanka.
A Dragon Apparent by Norman Lewis
Upon discovering the writings of eccentric Victorian writer James Emmerson Tennant, who had been sent to the island in 1845 by Her Majesty’s Government, Cherry Briggs embarks on a journey to follow in his footsteps. Using public transport, she zig-zags across Sri Lanka visiting pilgrimage trails, tea estates and rural regions inhabited by indigenous tribes, as well as through restricted areas of the former warzone, taking a deep dive into what makes contemporary Sri Lanka tick.
Tea Time with Terrorists by Mark Stephen Meadows
Armed with just a map, a motorcycle, and little understanding of Sri Lanka, Mark Stephen Meadows arrives in the country intending to have, as the title of his book explains, afternoon tea with terrorists. In an attempt to understand the country’s ongoing conflict, he journeys north into the war zone, interviewing terrorists, generals, and heroin dealers along the way.
Travelling through Colombo and Kandy towards the war-ravaged city of Jaffna, he discovers a beautiful island that has been ground down by three decades of war.
Books About the Sri Lankan Civil War
Seasons of Trouble by Rohini Mohan
For three decades, Sri Lanka’s civil war tore communities apart. In 2009, the Sri Lankan army finally defeated the separatist Tamil Tigers guerrillas in a fierce battle that killed more than 40,000 civilians. Rohini Mohan’s searing account of the conflict describes three lives caught up in the devastation. When city-bred Sarva is dragged off the streets by state forces, his middle-aged mother, Indra, searches for him through the labyrinthine Sri Lankan bureaucracy. Meanwhile, Mugil, a former child soldier, deserts the Tigers in the thick of war to protect her family.
This Divided Island by Samanth Subramanian
In another book about the Civil War that ravaged Sri Lanka, Samanth Subramanian gives us an extraordinary account of the Sri Lankan war and the lives it changed. Through travels and conversations, he examines how people reconcile themselves to violence, how religion and state conspire, how the powerful become cruel and how victory can be put to the task of reshaping memory and burying histories.
Biographies
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
On the morning of December 26, 2004, on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, Sonali Deraniyagala lost her parents, her husband, and her two young sons in the tsunami she miraculously survived. In this brave and searingly frank memoir, she describes those first horrifying moments and her long journey since.
A Year in Green Tea and Tuk Tuks by Rory Spowers
BBC journalist and environmentalist Rory Spowers, moving with his wife and two toddler sons to a 60–acre abandoned tea estate in Sri Lanka, sets out to create a model organic farm. Beginning with the boxing day tsunami of 2004, the book charts his adventures over 12 months, from his part in the tsunami relief efforts to the launch of his new farming venture.
Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
Best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje wrote this 1982 memoir after returning to his native Ceylon. This charming and poetic book is a beautifully recounted reflection on his country and Dutch-Ceylonese family as he recounts his intoxicating journey through Sri Lanka, from the lush flora and fauna to the old-fashioned life of the British colonies.
At its heart, The Sympathiser is a gripping spy novel that follows the Captain, a man secretly observing and reporting on a South Vietnamese Army general and his compatriots as they look to start a new life in the US.
Growing: Seven Years in Ceylon by Leonard Woolf
Leonard Woolf was sent straight from university to help govern the British Empire as a young graduate. In his autobiography, Woolf gives a deeply affectionate portrait of Ceylon, its diverse religions, beliefs and philosophies, and differing cultures at the beginning of the twentieth century. Somewhat surprisingly, the book also provides a devastating picture of the colonial ruling class as Woolf’s good intentions are thwarted by the ills of colonialism.
Contemporary Fiction
Reef by Romesh Gunesekera
Shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize, Reef explores the entwined lives of Mr. Salgado, an aristocratic marine biologist, and his houseboy, Triton, a talented young chef so committed to pleasing his master that he is oblivious to the political unrest threatening his Sri Lankan paradise. Through these characters and the forty years of political disintegration their country endures, Gunesekera tells the tragic movement of a country from a hopeful, young democracy to troubled island society.
Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweer
Nayomi Munaweera’s debut novel tells the story of two young women on opposing sides of the devastating Civil War. Yasodhara tells the story of her own Sinhalese family, living in idyllic Colombo until the peace is shattered by the tragedies of war. On the other hand, Saraswathi is living in the active war zone of Sri Lanka, with hopes of becoming a teacher until her dream are abruptly stamped out when she is arrested by a group of Sinhala soldiers and pulled into the heart of the conflict.
Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
With his first novel since winning the Booker Prize with his internationally acclaimed hit The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje transports us into the midst of Sri Lanka’s Civil War. Anil returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island.
Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai
Following on from his critically acclaimed novels Funny Boy and Cinnamon Gardens, Shyam Selvadurai’s first foray into YA fiction. Set during the monsoon season of 1980, this book tells the story of Fourteen-year-old Amrith whose life is turned on its head when his cousin arrives from Canada and he finds himself falling for him.
Suncatcher by Romesh Gunesekera
Following on from his Booker Prize-nominated debut, Reef, Romesh Gunesekera’s latest novel takes a trip back to 1960’s Ceylon during a time of political upheaval. At a time when schools are closed and the government is floundering, the novel’s young protagonist Kairo is at loose ends. That is until he meets the magnetic teenage Jay, and his whole world is turned inside out.
