It’s been 2 weeks today since the publication of Sharon Bala‘s THE BOAT PEOPLE (McClelland & Stewart Canada, Doubleday Books US) and it has been received with overwhelming enthusiasm. We’re starting this week with fresh news and reviews of this striking debut novel, including being selected as an iBooks Best Books of the Month!
“Bala displays her talent as a compassionate, reflective author…This is a work of fiction, but it’s so very real…Ultimately, this is a novel comprised of both beautiful and uncomfortable truths, written by an author who understands there are multiple sides to every issue – and to every human being…Bala has vividly conjured worlds, both on Canadian soil and back in Sri Lanka, that show the dualities of living in any country…What we also get from a novel like this is a new way of seeing.”
-The Globe and Mail
“Cinematic details transport us to a tension-rich drama. Bala moves fluidly from past to present, mixing memories with current crises…juxtapositions build and maintain suspense all the way to the last line, where readers are left hanging, as if justice is in our hands…The Boat People reminds us of the fragile nature of truth.”
-BookPage
Interviews:
The Sunday Edition: Cbc.ca/thesundayedition/new-novel-about-tamil-asylum-seekers-reveals-canada-s-split-personality-about-refugees
CBC Books: Cbc.ca/books/why-canada-reads-longlisted-novelist-sharon-bala-abhors-corporate-speak
Metro Toronto News: Metronews.ca/award-winning-novel-inspired-by-arrival-of-sri-lankans-by-boat-in-vancouver