Vaddey Ratner, author of, IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN, attends the PEN/Hemingway ceremony with her editor, Trish Todd!
1. CARRY THE ONE by Carol Anshaw & a Faribault cozy wool blanket
2. IN ONE PERSON by John Irving & Paddywax Library Collection candle
3. IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN by Vaddey Ratner & Bodum Chambord French Press
4. UNORTHODOX by Deborah Feldman & Ikat Tea Set For One
We are SO excited that the following titles have been nominated in the Goodreads Choice Awards. Please log in and vote for one title per category. The opening round ends on Saturday, November 10.
Fiction
IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN by Vaddey Ratner
Memoir & Autobiography
UNORTHODOX by Deborah Feldman
Nonfiction
ABUNDANCE: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter Diamantis
FREE WILL by Sam Harris
A UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING: Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss
Humor
DROP DEAD HEALTHY by A.J. Jacobs
TRAIL OF THE SPELLMANS by Lisa Lutz
Food & Cookbooks
CHLOE'S KITCHEN by Chloe Coscarelli
#Fiction#IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN#Vaddey Ratner#Memoir#Autobiography#UNORTHODOX#Deborah Feldman#Nonfiction#ABUNDANCE#The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter Diamantis#FREE WILL by Sam Harris#A UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING:#Lawrence M. Krauss#DROP DEAD HEALTHY#A.J. Jacobs#TRAIL OF THE SPELLMANS#Lisa Lutz#Food#Cookbooks#CHLOE'S KITCHEN by Chloe Coscarelli
Yum! Recipe inspired by Vaddey Ratner's IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN.
Source: paperplatesblog.com
Vaddey Ratner, author of IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN and Chris Cleave, author of GOLD and LITTLE BEE, at their joint event at the Sixth & I in D.C.!
#vaddey ratner#vaddey ratner in the shadow of the banyan#in the shadow of the banyan#gold#Chris Cleave#chris cleave little bee#chris cleave gold#chris cleave incendiary#Incendiary#Little Bee#simonandschuster#simonandschustertumblr#Simon and Schuster#simon and schuster event#author event#simon and schuster author#Sixth & I#washington d.c.#author event washington d.c.#d.c.
Candid photos of the incredible Vaddey Ratner, author of IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN, at the PEN/Faulkner Gala.
If you haven't, read IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN, a New York Times bestseller, you really must. In the words of the editor, "You are about to read an extraordinary story. It will take you to the very depths of despairand show you unspeakable horrors. "
"It will reveal a gorgeously rich culture struggling to survive through a furtive bow, a hidden ankle bracelet, fragments of remembered poetry. It will ensure that the world never forgets the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, when an estimated two million people lost their lives. It will give you hope, and it will confirm the power of storytelling to lift us up and help us not only survive but transcend suffering, cruelty, and loss. "
simonbooks-blog reblogged
Hear Vaddey Ratner's interview on NPR and read an excerpt.
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.
(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.
Simon & Schuster talks to Vaddey Ratner about her debut novel, In the Shadow of the Banyan
Vaddey Ratner was five years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975. After four years, having endured forced labor, starvation, and near execution, she escaped while many of her family members perished. In 1981, she arrived in the U.S. as a refugee not knowing English and, in 1990, went on to graduate as her high school class valedictorian. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Cornell University, where she specialized in Southeast Asian history and literature. In recent years she traveled and lived in Cambodia and Southeast Asia, writing and researching, which culminated in her debut novel, In the Shadow of the Banyan. She lives in Potomac, Maryland.
In the Shadow of the Banyan is available now.
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In the Shadow of the Banyan is a novel, but it is closely based on your family’s experience in Cambodia during the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979. Why did you decide to write it as a novel rather than a memoir? I was a small child when the Khmer Rouge took over the country. Revisiting that period of our life, I found that I couldn’t trust myself completely to recall the exact details of the events and places and the chronology of our forced exodus from the city to the countryside, the journey from one place to the next during the span of those four years. I did initially try to write it as a memoir. But sorting through my own memories and what my mother was able to share with me, as well as the historical record, I kept asking myself again and again, What is the story I want to tell? What is my purpose for telling it? It isn’t so much the story of the Khmer Rouge experience, of genocide, or even of loss and tragedy. What I wanted to articulate is something more universal, more indicative, I believe, of the human experience—our struggle to hang onto life, our desire to live, even in the most awful circumstances. In telling this story, it isn’t my own life I wished others to take note of. I have survived, and the gift of survival, I feel, is honor enough already. My purpose is to honor the lives lost, and I wanted to do so by endeavoring to transform suffering into art.
ENTER BY 7/2 TO WIN A COPY OF IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN BY VADDEY RATNER!
You are about to read an extraordinary story. It will take you to the very depths of despair and show you unspeakable horrors. It will reveal a gorgeously rich culture struggling to survive through a furtive bow, a hidden ankle bracelet, fragments of remembered poetry. It will ensure that the world never forgets the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, when an estimated two million people lost their lives. It will give you hope, and it will confirm the power of storytelling to lift us up and help us not only survive but transcend suffering, cruelty, and loss.