by Sonali Deraniyagala (Author)

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST - One woman's searing account of losing her entire family in a tsunami.

"The most exceptional book about grief I've ever read.... As unsparing as they come, but also defiantly flooded with light.... Extraordinary." --Cheryl Strayed, The New York Times Book Review

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century

In 2004, at a beach resort on the coast of Sri Lanka, Sonali Deraniyagala and her family--parents, husband, sons--were swept away by a tsunami. Only Sonali survived to tell their tale. This is her account of the nearly incomprehensible event and its aftermath.

Author Biography

SONALI DERANIYAGALA teaches in the Department of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She is currently a visiting research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, New York, working on issues of economic development, including post-disaster recovery.