5 of 5 Stars to Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
It was a wave that took everything that Sonali Deraniyagala had - her two young sons, her husband, her mother, and her father - and left her spinning in the mud. Deraniyagala had never heard of a tsunami before the 2004 disaster that changed her life forever, but it is now all she knows. Her stunning memoir is simultaneously stark and rich, celebrating both love and loss without sugar coating her daunting experience.
Wave is certainly a book you have to be in the mood to read. I sobbed through each chapter, but found Deraniyagala's stark language and straightforward exploration of her life and her grief stunningly beautiful. Dereaniyagala describes her gradual acclamation to her anguish with stark honesty, leaving the reader with the feeling that they have in some way shared some part of her terrifying journey.
Wave is a book that will stay with you. It is not in any way an easy read, but it is a rewarding one. This is a book that will change the way you see life and loss.
Read this review and more on The Library Lass Book Talk Blog.