The flattened use of a child narrator's point of view forces the historical context to be relayed in heavy-handed dialogue. In the tradition of novels such as Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, In the Shadow of the Banyan is a compelling saga of a country during a troubled time little understood in the west, but it also shares similar weaknesses. The main characters may feel rather generalised and never quite live off the page, but as the great human drama unfurls in this sensitive and impassioned telling, it is impossible not to be moved by the spectre of famished victims in this ravaged land. The ruthless hunt to expunge families like Raami's parallels the chaotic reversal of Cambodian society where in the end, "only the deaf, the dumb, and the mute would survive". Vaddey Ratner traces the reign of the Khmer Rouge to its demise in a mere 315 pages, narrating the manifold tragedies that took place through Raami's own experiences with child soldiers, death and murder, famine and mass weddings with revolutionary soldiers. Historical breadth and a narrative momentum are the novel's greatest strengths. For Raami, the true terrors begin with the loss of her father, and while living in the village of Stung Khae, she comes to understand that the Organization is becoming even more powerful and paranoid. The remaining family is relocated once again, but this time, Raami and her mother are separated from the group. Along with others, the family is relocated to an abandoned school building and lives in relative peaceful coexistence with the Organization until Raami's father is forced to reveal his royal family name and turn himself in.
The chapters are enlivened by the poems that Raami's father writes and recites, and myths and folk tales that live on in Raami's memory. Seven-year-old Raami and her extended family of royal lineage, like the rest of Cambodia's intellectual and middle class, take part in the migration from the capital city Phnom Penh, leaving behind their homes, professions, and when possible, even their suddenly dangerous middle-class identities.ĭespite the grim circumstances, In the Shadow of the Banyan yokes the beauty of the lush terrain and farmland with haphazard cruelty and violence. I n April 1975, the now-notorious Khmer Rouge government (called the Organization in this ambitious first novel) forced all residents in urban areas to uproot and join a mass migration to the rural provinces.
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