THE BOOK FAIR

Review:

 On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge, an army of ruthless thugs, entered Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia,  and ended life as Cambodians knew it.   Declaring a new government, the revolutionaries killed government officials, government personnel, and others connected with the government.  The black uniformed Khmers killed any civilian who opposed their dictates and in the process, set out their plan to relocate and re-educate the population under the communist dictatorship of Pol Pot.

 

“In the Shadow of the Banyan”, the lyrical and poetic novel by, Vaddey Ratner, offers a glimpse of her life during the Khmer take over when she was all of five years old.  As Raami in the novel, Vaddey Ratner is a descendant of Cambodian royalty, her father, (the deceased) Prince Sisowath Ayuravann.

 

Raami, born into the Royal Sisowath family, is seven years old when the Khmer Rouge Revolutionary Army invades Phnom Penh and changes her life and that of her family’s lives forever.  Rampaging into the city, the black uniformed soldiers begin the task of entering homes and dislodging families from their property.

Raami’s father, Ayuravann, and her mother, Aana, quickly amass a few belongings and flee with Raami and her toddler sister, Radana.  Raami’s family soon meets up with her father’s brother’s family and together, they flee to their country home outside the city.  The family is eventually discovered, separated and sent to re-education labor camps.  Raami struggles to survive and reunite with her family.

 

Note:

It is estimated that up to two million Cambodians were killed by the Khmer Rouge.