Reading in someone else's shoes

One of the wonderful things about reading is that it enables you to walk in someone else’s shoes for a little while. Sometimes those shoes take you to places and lives radically different to your own. “Tamil Tigress” by Niromi de Soyza is an example of just such a story. Two days before Christmas in 1987, at the age of 17, Niromi de Soyza found herself in an ambush as part of a small platoon of militant Tamil Tigers fighting government forces in the bloody civil war that was to engulf Sri Lanka for decades. With her was her lifelong friend, Ajanthi, also aged 17. Leaving behind them their shocked middle-class families, the teenagers had become part of the Tamil Tigers' first female contingent. Equipped with little more than a rifle and a cyanide capsule, Niromi's group managed to survive on their wits in the jungle, facing not only the perils of war but starvation, illness and growing internal tensions among the militant Tigers. Today, Niromi de Soyza lives with her husband and children in Sydney. Walter Mason reviewed this book for “Good Reading” magazine (September 2011) and he said “This is a book about suffering, resilience and personal strength that I found ultimately unsettling and uniquely insightful”.

We hope you enjoy whatever you are reading this week. To find out what other books the Library has, visit http://nwls.spydus.com.