Brotherless Night

Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Epigraph Prologue: New York, 2009 Part I: A Near-Invisible Scar Chapter 1: The Boys with the Jaffna Eyes, Jaffna, 1981 Chapter 2: A Good Sister, Jaffna to Colombo, Late 1981–1983 Chapter 3: Displacement, Colombo to Jaffna, 1983 Chapter 4: Recruitment, Jaffna, 1983–198 Part II: Movement Chapter 5: What the Women Said, Jaffna, July 1984 Chapter 6: Supporters, Jaffna, August 1984 Chapter 7: Possible Militant, Jaffna, Late 1984–Early 1985 Chapter 8: The Doctor Begins, Jaffna, Late 1985–Early 1986 Part III: The Half-Doctor Chapter 9: Refusal, Jaffna, 1986 Chapter 10: Lights Out, Jaffna, 1986 Chapter 11: Liberation, Jaffna, 1986–1987 Chapter 12: Saviours, Jaffna, Mid-1987 Part IV: The End of Hunger Chapter 13: K Becomes K, Jaffna, September 1987 Chapter 14: The Authors, Jaffna, Late 1987 Chapter 15: Innocent People, Jaffna, Late 1987–1989 Chapter 16: Hospital Notes, Jaffna, October 1987 Part V: The Palace of History Chapter 17: Hippocrates, Colombo/Jaffna, 1989 Chapter 18: Safe Passage, Colombo to Jaffna, Late 1989 Chapter 19: The Body, Jaffna, 1989 Chapter 20: The Next Report, Somewhere in the Air, 1989, New York, 2009 Dedication Author’s Notes and Acknowledgments Other Titles About the Author Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List iv v vi ix 3 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 105 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 241 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Brotherless Night is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
 Copyright © 2023 by Vasugi Ganeshananthan
 All rights reserved.
 Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
 Random House and the House colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Ganeshananthan, V. V., author.
 Title: Brotherless night: a novel / V.V. Ganeshananthan.
 Description: First Edition. | New York: Random House, [2023]
 Identifiers: LCCN 2021059571 (print) | LCCN 2021059572 (ebook) |
 ISBN 9780812997156 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780812997163 (ebook)
 Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.
 Classification: LCC PS3607.A455 B76 2023 (print) | LCC PS3607.A455 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2021059571
 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2021059572
 Ebook ISBN 9780812997163
 randomhousebooks.com
 Book design by Barbara M. Bachman, adapted for ebook
 Cover design and art by Donna Cheng
 Cover photograph by Jeremy Suyker
 This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
 
 
 
 
 
 ep_prh_6.0_142201960_c0_r0
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Epigraph
 
 
 Prologue: New York, 2009
 
 
 Part I: A Near-Invisible Scar
 
 Chapter 1: The Boys with the Jaffna Eyes, Jaffna, 1981
 
 
 Chapter 2: A Good Sister, Jaffna to Colombo, Late 1981–1983
 
 
 Chapter 3: Displacement, Colombo to Jaffna, 1983
 
 
 Chapter 4: Recruitment, Jaffna, 1983–198
 
 
 
 Part II: Movement
 
 Chapter 5: What the Women Said, Jaffna, July 1984
 
 
 Chapter 6: Supporters, Jaffna, August 1984
 
 
 Chapter 7: Possible Militant, Jaffna, Late 1984–Early 1985
 
 
 Chapter 8: The Doctor Begins, Jaffna, Late 1985–Early 1986
 
 
 
 Part III: The Half-Doctor
 
 Chapter 9: Refusal, Jaffna, 1986
 
 
 Chapter 10: Lights Out, Jaffna, 1986
 
 
 Chapter 11: Liberation, Jaffna, 1986–1987
 
 
 Chapter 12: Saviours, Jaffna, Mid-1987
 
 
 
 Part IV: The End of Hunger
 
 Chapter 13: K Becomes K, Jaffna, September 1987
 
 
 Chapter 14: The Authors, Jaffna, Late 1987
 
 
 Chapter 15: Innocent People, Jaffna, Late 1987–1989
 
 
 Chapter 16: Hospital Notes, Jaffna, October 1987
 
 
 
 Part V: The Palace of History
 
 Chapter 17: Hippocrates, Colombo/Jaffna, 1989
 
 
 Chapter 18: Safe Passage, Colombo to Jaffna, Late 1989
 
 
 Chapter 19: The Body, Jaffna, 1989
 
 
 Chapter 20: The Next Report, Somewhere in the Air, 1989, New York, 2009