One of TheNew York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year
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. She has written an engrossing, unsentimental, beautifully poised account: as she struggles
through the first months following the tragedy, furiously clenched against a reality that she cannot face and cannot deny; and then, over the ensuing years, as she emerges reluctantly, slowly
allowing her memory to take her back through the rich and joyous life she’s mourning, from her family’s home in London, to the birth of her children, to the year she met her English husband at
Cambridge, to her childhood in Colombo; all the while learning the difficult balance between the almost unbearable reminders of her loss and the need to keep her family, somehow, still alive within
her.
A Time Magazine Top 10 Book of the Decade in Nonfiction
A New York Times Top 10 Book of 2013
A 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
A 2013 New York Times Book Review Notable Book
A Los Angeles Times bestseller
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2013 in Nonfiction
A People Magazine Best Book of 2013
A 2013 Salon Magazine Best Book
One of Newsday’s Favorite Books of the Year for 2013
A 2013 Christian Science Monitor Book of the Year for Nonfiction
Winner of the 2013 Barnes & Noble Discover Award for Nonfiction
An Barnes & Noble Best Book for March 2013
A Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2013 for Nonfiction
An Amazon Top 100 Book of 2013
An Amazon Best Book of the Month
One of TheNew York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year
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. She has written an engrossing, unsentimental, beautifully poised account: as she struggles
through the first months following the tragedy, furiously clenched against a reality that she cannot face and cannot deny; and then, over the ensuing years, as she emerges reluctantly, slowly
allowing her memory to take her back through the rich and joyous life she’s mourning, from her family’s home in London, to the birth of her children, to the year she met her English husband at
Cambridge, to her childhood in Colombo; all the while learning the difficult balance between the almost unbearable reminders of her loss and the need to keep her family, somehow, still alive within
her.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
Courageous, truthful and, above all, generous . . . What amazed me most about the book is what good company it is. Deraniyagala is accepting and tender in her record of grief . . . Wave is in fact full of persisting life. —Globe & Mail (Canada)
Immeasurably potent . . . Relentless in its explication of grief, this massively courageous, tenaciously unsentimental chronicle of unthinkable loss and incremental recovery explodes--and then expands--our notion of what love really means. —More magazine
An indelible and unique story of loss and resolution written with breathtaking refinement and courage . . . In rinsed-clear language, Deraniyagala 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 . . . But here, too, are sustaining tides of memories that enable her to vividly, even joyfully, portray her loved ones. —Booklist
Wave is a haunting chronicle of love and horrifying loss. The heartfelt writing manages to render the absence of the loved ones--the void, and the pain of it--in such a beautiful way that what was lost emerges as a new life form, one whose flesh and sinew are memory, sorrow, and undying love. —Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone
“Although for much of the book, we are privileged to be with her as she conjures and re-conjures her joyous family, what emerges from this wizardry most clearly is, of course, Deraniyagala herself--carrying within her present life another gorgeously remembered one. —San Francisco Chronicle“Unforgettable . . . It is a miracle Deraniyagala lived. The fact that she could write such a memoir, bringing those she loved to life so completely that they breathe on the page, is itself a miracle.
The most exceptional book about grief I’ve ever read . . . I didn’t feel as if I was going to cry while reading Wave. I felt as if my heart might stop . . . Deraniyagala has fearlessly delivered on memoir’s greatest promise: to tell it like it is, no matter the cost. The result is an unforgettable book that isn’t only as unsparing as they come, but also defiantly flooded with light . . . Extraordinary. —Cheryl Strayed, New York Times Book Review
“An amazing, beautiful book.” —Joan Didion, New York Times bestselling author
Heart-stopping . . . A stunning memoir of grief . . . Wave contains some of the best, most affecting writing about love and family that I have ever read . . . It is also wholly sui generis. I couldn’t recommend it more highly. —Sunday Times (UK)
Out of unimaginable loss comes an unimaginably powerful book. Wave is unflinching as it charts the depths of grief, but it's also, miraculously, a beautifully detailed meditation on the essence of happiness. I came away from this stunning book with a new appreciation of life’s daily gifts. I urge you to read Wave. You will not be the same person after you've finished. —Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club
The most powerful and haunting book I have read in years . . . Sonali Deraniyagala has brought back to life in this stunning memoir all those she lost, so much so that we will never forget them or their lives. — Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient“Both heartbreaking and astonishingly beautiful.
Beautiful and ravaging . . . faultless prose. —Laura Wadley, The Daily Herald
As beautifully written as it is raw, Sonali Deraniyagala’s Wave is an impossible book to forget because it exists on the razor’s edge between before and after. —Miwa Messer, Everyday Ebook
—
In short, declarative, unbearable sentences, Deraniyagala takes us through her grief like a tour guide into a country no one chooses to visit. . . . Art as powerful as a planetary vibration. —Joanna Connors, The Plain Dealer
“Rarely are we given a story of such narrative force and poetic simplicity . . . Being spared, Deraniyagala seems doomed to spare herself nothing. Wave is a beautiful offering to readers. Bravissima. — Mary Karr, author of Lit
A devastating but ultimately redemptive memoir . . . The craft and control reflect an exceptional literary command . . . Excellent. Reading Deraniyagala’s account proves almost as cathartic as writing it must have been. —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
Deraniyagala has written a book teaming with beautiful ruminations on the bittersweetness of memory and the precariousness of life. —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“An amazing, beautiful book. —Joan Didion, author of The Year of Magical Thinking“Radiant . . . The extremity of Deraniyagala’s story seizes the attention, but it’s the beauty of how she expresses it that makes it indelible . . . [She is] a writer of such extraordinary gifts . . . Wave is a small, slender book, but it is enormous on the inside.
“Deraniyagala
tours memories of her young family’s history with artistry.” —New Yorker
“What emerges from this wizardry
most clearly is, of course, Deraniyagala herself—carrying within her present
life another gorgeously remembered one.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“The most powerful and haunting book I have read in
years…Deraniyagala has brought back to life in this stunning memoir all
those she lost, so much so that we will never forget them or their lives.” —Michael Ondaatje, New York Times bestselling author
“The heartfelt writing manages
to render the absence of the loved ones—the void, and the pain of it—in such a
beautiful way that what was lost emerges as a new life form, one whose flesh
and sinew are memory, sorrow, and undying love.” —Abraham Verghese, New York Times bestselling author
“Wave is unflinching as it
charts the depths of grief, but it’s also, miraculously, a beautifully detailed
meditation on the essence of happiness.” —Will Schwalbe, New York Times bestselling author
“Rarely are we given a story of such narrative force and
poetic simplicity.” —Mary Karr, New York Times bestselling author
“It is a miracle Deraniyagala
lived. The fact that she could write such a memoir, bringing those she loved to
life so completely that they breathe on the page, is itself a miracle.” —Vanity Fair
“Immeasurably
potent. . . . This massively courageous, tenaciously unsentimental chronicle of
unthinkable loss and incremental recovery explodes—and then expands—our notion
of what love really means.” —More magazine
“Greatness reverberates from her simple and supple prose.” —New York Times
“In this poignant, yet spare and unsentimental memoir, she
writes movingly of the life that she shared with the people she lost and how
those memories helped her deal with her grief.” —Barnes & Noble, editorial review (editor’s recommendation)
“So brave, so beautiful, in these pages Deraniyagala’s
family is brilliantly alive. And so is she.” —Amazon.com, editorial review
“As unsparing as they come, but
also defiantly flooded with light.” —New York Times Book Review
“[Deraniyagala’s
family] spring from these pages with an exuberance and dimensionality that
lifts Wave from memoir into some
virtual realm of documentation.” —Boston Globe
“Wave captures the elusive,
shape-shifting nature of grief.” —Newsday
“A devastating but ultimately redemptive memoir…The craft
and control reflect an exceptional literary command…Reading Deraniyagala’s
account proves almost as cathartic as writing it must have been.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“An indelible and unique story of loss and resolution
written with breathtaking refinement and courage.” —Booklist
Sonali Deraniyagala teaches in the Department of Economics at the University of London. She is currently a visiting research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs at
Columbia University, working on issues of economic development, including post-disaster recovery.
Titles by Author
Details
Details
Format:
Digital Download
Available Formats :
Digital Download
Category:
Nonfiction/Biography & Autobiography
Publisher:
Random House Audio
Runtime:
5.40
ISBN:
9780385366625
Audience:
Adult
Language:
English
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