Suncatcher - Romesh Gunesekera

Suncatcher is a slow builder, slowly pulling you in, wrapping you around the storyline, and it is impossible to put it down until you reach the end. Romesh Gunesekera’s prose is so easy to read, but it’s depth and beauty stick with you long after you have finished reading. And the luscious descriptions of the Sri Lankan landscape had me captivated, at times I could easily imagine them passing through my mind, as in a movie.

Kairo is at that age when his main interests are comic books and his bike, and he longs for a friend to share his adventures with. A chance meeting with Jay leads to a summer of adventure; both boys from very different families and lifestyles, but finding a common ground in nature and play. As civil unrest brews around them, Kairo begins to see that maybe their differences are too great, and that maybe he was investing too much of himself in this friendship. 

I always admire writers who are able to not only put themselves in child protagonists’ bodies and minds, but also accurately submerge the reader into them too: I found myself thinking like Kairo, seeing the world around him through his eyes. I especially love how the author allows Kairo’s comprehension of the world around him to slowly emerge, how he begins to understand relationships, actions, events, and people, and how things aren’t always as they immediately seem. While this novel is set in Sri Lanka (then still Ceylon) in the 1960’s, the political and social happenings of the time don’t distract from the main plot, but enhance it. I think most people will relate to Kairo and how he searches for friendship in Jay, despite their differences and the difficulties in maintaining the friendship.

I really enjoyed how both Kairo and Jay’s mothers have prominent roles in the novel, both as mothers, and human beings. As a side note, the first female prime minister democratically elected in a country was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, elected in 1960. While I knew this prior to reading this novel, I didn’t know much about her or immediate post-colonial life in Sri Lanka, and reading Suncatcher pushed me to learn a lot more about the country, and how she shaped certain areas for the better, but where she also helped create deathly strife between people that went on for decades afterwards. 

This is a beautiful coming of age novel, I can’t recommend it enough!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.