The memoir starts off with sonali describing the families seemingly normal boxing day but then quickly turns around. Her book tells of her painful progress to recovery from her losses. If you appreciated the book into the wild by jon krakauer, or viewed the movie 127 hours with rapt attention, then you are ready to read wave by sonali deraniyagala. Life and memories after the tsunami is a memoir by sonali deraniyagala based on the 2004 indian ocean earthquake and tsunami.
In this brave and searingly frank memoir, she describes those first horrifying moments and her long journey since. When the tsunami hit sri lanka, they all caught in the wave. The couple met in 20 after fiona read wave and was so moved by it, she asked a mutual friend if she could be introduced to sonali fiona still lists wave as her favourite book of all time, and not just because shes now married to the author. Wave by sonali deraniyagala penguin random house audio. If hers is not the saddest story ive ever heard, it. The language is powerful in its simplicity and clarity. In this brave and searingly frank memoir, she describes those fir. It recounts the story of the authors life before the tsunami struck the coast, and how it changed dramatically after the disaster.
She is on the faculty of the department of economics at soas, university of london and is a research scholar at columbia university, new york city. This raw and poignant memoir relates how sonali lost her entire family in a tsunami, which she barely survived. Deraniyagalas debut book recounts her life after the 2004 indian ocean tsunami took the lives of her. Sonalis shock at what happened became numbness and an all out effort to avoid bringing up any memories of her husband and children. Likewise, in 2014, it got the nomination for national book critics circle award for autobiography. Its a sentence that may spin in your mind while you read the opening pages of wave, sonali deraniyagalas devastating new memoir. On december 26,2014, sonali deraniyagala watched as the tsunami came barreling towards yala safari beach hotel, where she was vacationing with her husband, parents and two young sons. Sonali deraniyagala talks about her memoir, wave youtube. One of the new york timess 10 best books of the year, a. Sonali deraniyagala lost her husband, two sons and parents to the indian ocean. Sonali and the 60yearold irish actress fiona married in 2018. On the morning of december 26, 2004, on the southern coast of sri lanka, sonali deraniyagala lost her parents, her husband, and her two young sons in the tsunami she miraculously survived. Wave tells a true story of survival and loss in the 2004 tsunami.
In sonali deraniyagalas memoir, wave, they are among the most difficult. Sonali deraniyagala says of her family members killed in the 2004 tsunami. As the only one in her family who survived the wave, deraniyagala fought through her grief and depression to find a new identity for herself. The suddenness of the disaster and the horror of losing her family is described in raw emotion. Wave is a 20 memoir by sri lankan author and academic economist sonali deraniyagala, who lost her husband, her parents, and two children in the asian tsunami of 2004. This is her account of the nearly incomprehensible event and its aftermath. Wave,by sonali deraniyagala 5 stars an extremely moving book written by sonali who lost her husband and sons in the boxing day tsunami. In december 2004, sonali deraniyagala and her family were home for christmas.
Wave contains some of the best, most affecting writing about love and family that i have ever read. Sonali deraniyagala lost her husband, children and parents in the 2004 indian ocean tsunami, and was maddened with grief. Wave is an enticing yet heartbreaking memoir about sonali deraniyagalas loss of her family and the aftermath she faced afterwards. Sonali and her family were vacationing in sri lanka when the wave hit, and her world fell apart. Sonali deraniyagalas extraordinary memoir, wave, opens on the morning of dec. In sonali deraniyagalas memoir, wave, they are among the most difficult things ive ever read. The book in which the passage above appears contains other. Wave book charlotte mecklenburg library bibliocommons. Wave is a brave and brutally honest retelling of what happened to sonali and her family that fateful morning and how in the immediate months and past nine years she has struggled to cope with her family s tragedy. But it is only now, reading sonali deraniyagalas memoir, wave, that i can. Wave is a small, slender book, but it is enormous on the inside. In wave, deraniyagala reinhabits this tempestuous period with. Buy a cheap copy of wave book by sonali deraniyagala.
In her starkly titled true story wave, she describes losing her entire family her husband, their two young sons and her parents, who all vanished under. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on youtube. Actress fiona shaw is married to highflying academic dr sonali deraniyagala, who suffered excruciating tragedy when her family were wiped out in. Sonali deraniyagalas horrific book wave, about her experience in and after the 26 december 2004 tsunami that struck the southeast coast of sri lanka, is one of the most moving memoirs i have. The book opens as the tsunami is approaching and deraniyagala and her family attempt to outrun it. The memoir begins with the moment the tsunami struck the beach resort where deraniyagala and her family were staying. To ask other readers questions about wave, please sign up. In an unblinking act of storytelling, sonali deraniyagala ruthlessly chronicles the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that.
Its as easy to summarize sonali deraniyagalas wave as it is impossible to truly comprehend it. On the day after christmas in 2004, she and her family were staying at a beach hotel. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Praise abounded michael ondaatje dubbed it the most powerful and haunting book he had. Sonali deraniyagala, author of the powerful memoir wave, talks about her writing process. The most moving passages in this extraordinarily moving book are in the. Wave is a grief memoir, with sonali trying to adjust to a new life of being alone. Pick up your copy of wave, an indigo spotlight pick, at indigo, chapters and coles across canada or online. In 2004, at a beach resort on the coast of sri lanka, sonali deraniyagala and her family parents, husband, sonswere swept away by a tsunami.
Wave is a tsunami memoir that follows a wrenching path. The second story is about remembering the life of a family when they were happy. A memoir of life after the tsunami by sonali deraniyagala isbn. Sonali deraniyagala s extraordinary memoir, wave, opens on the morning of dec. Fiona shaw finds love with economist whose family died in. I read the book, wave, by sonali deraniyagala and i created a book trailer to tell you. She survived her parents, her husband, and their children. Sonali deraniyagala born 1964 in colombo is a sri lankan memoirist and economist born in colombo, sri lanka, she studied economics at cambridge university and has a doctorate from the university of oxford. Sonali deraniyagala, author of wave sonali deraniyagala lost her husband, two sons and parents to the indian ocean tsunami that claimed the lives of.
Her strength enabled her to drive herself forward in her life. So begins the most exceptional book about grief ive ever read. In this brave and searingly frank memoir, she describes those first horrifying moments and. The tsunami survivor who lost her whole family world. A memoir of life after the tsunami by deraniyagala, sonali isbn. Sonali deraniyagala married, husband, partner, children. Wave sonali deraniyagala, 20 knopf doubleday 240 pp. Sonali deraniyagala chronicles the agonized aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that drowned. The author, a sri lankan native turned londonbased academic, was vacationing with her family. In 2004, at a beach resort on the coast of sri lanka, sonali deraniyagala and her family. By the time i heard sonali deraniyagalas voice over a skype call, i had been waiting for months to talk to her. In her memoir wave, sonali deraniyagala shares the true story of the tsunami in sri lanka that killed her husband, two sons, and parents. Renowned alumni of the universities of oxford and cambridge, economist and author of wave dr. Sonali deraniyagala has tied the knot with, fiona shaw, the wellknown british actress, known by most of us as aunt petunia of the popular harry potter films.