Vaddey Ratner, author of the incredible novel IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN at Barnes & Noble.

For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus.

Read on.

(Audio and quoted text from NPR Books)

Vaddey Ratner NPR interview and reading from her stunning debut novel IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN. 

"When she was just 5 years old, Vaddey Ratner's comfortable and protected life as the child of an aristocratic Cambodian family came to an abrupt end, as Khmer Rouge soldiers entered the capital, Phnom Penh. They banged on the gates of the family compound and ordered them to leave — it was the start of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror, which left hundreds of thousands of Cambodians dead, including all of Ratner's family except her mother."

Read more and find an excerpt on NPR Books.