STORY OF A BRIEF MARRIAGE Paperback

In the devastating final years of Sri Lanka's civil war, as the Tamil minority is relentlessly pushed towards the coast, Dinesh finds himself in a precarious refugee camp. His world has shrunk to the daily rhythm of shelling and the struggle for survival. Numb to the violence that has claimed his family and home, his existence is one of mute acceptance.   Then, an unexpected proposal arrives: an old man asks Dinesh to marry his daughter, Ganga. In this brutal reality, marriage is a desperate attempt at safety. As a couple, they might be spared conscription or abuse. Thrust into an unfamiliar intimacy, Dinesh and Ganga navigate their sudden dependence, tentatively reaching for connection amidst the chaos.   Set over a single day and night, Anuk Arudpragasam's debut novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage, is a powerful and unflinching meditation on the fundamental aspects of human life – eating, sleeping, touching, speaking – that persist even as the world collapses around them. With extraordinary sensitivity and precise prose, Arudpragasam explores the fragility of existence, the search for meaning in the face of annihilation, and the flicker of human connection in the darkest of times. This is a profound and unforgettable story of love and survival against the backdrop of war.