THE BESTSELLERS

The Boat People: A Novel

By Sharon Bala McClelland & Stewart, 2018. 416 pages. $19.99 (e-book $11.99). Browse at Books. Google.ca

THIS DEBUT NOVEL offers an illuminating story of the people who abandon their once-beloved homeland to escape bloody civil war. The main character Mahindan, a Sri Lankan widower, imagines the freedom he will experience in Canada once he and his young son exit the 60-metre freighter with the other 500 passengers. He endures the risky journey, reminding himself Canada will provide something precious – safety and the ability to breathe.

He learns quickly that “When it comes to refugees, this country has a split personality.” When the refugees are rescued off the B.C. coast, the adults are shackled at wrists and ankles, and placed in detention camps for months to endure hearing upon hearing, wondering if after all they have endured they will be able to stay.

The Boat People is told from several points of view – Mahindan, his six-year-old son, a Canadian law student named Priya whose parents are Tamil, and Grace, the adjudicator, a Japanese Canadian whose opinions have been influenced by a politician who wants the refugees to go back where they came from.

The Boat People is a heart-wrenching story that challenges readers to consciously consider the plight of refugees arriving in Canada. They are not an anonymous group of potential terrorists. They are fleeing persecution and longing to live free of bombings and horrific acts of injustice, to raise their children in a safe environment. Whatever else comes is a gift.

The novel shows that even if Canadians all came to this country in different ways, we must recognize the commonalities that exist as we reside together.