Carol

The Boat People [Book Review]

August 10, 2018

Are Refugees too risky?

The Boat People by Sharon Bala

the Boat People by Sharon Bala (cover) Image: a man holds a young boys hand and stands on the beach looking out over the ocean

Genre/Categories: Historical Fiction, Refugee Crisis, Canada, Legal, Cultural Heritage, Sri Lanka, Family Life

***This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Summary:

Do Refugees Pose a Risk?

This is the urgent question that faces Canadian officials when a rusty cargo ship carrying five hundred refugees from Sri Lanka appears on Vancouver’s shores. As the “boat people” are thrown into a detention center, rumors circulate that terrorists might be posing as refugees and could create a threat to Canada’s national security. This complex, compelling, and heartfelt story, loosely based on true events from 2010, is told fairly from three perspectives: Mahindan (a refugee), Priya (a lawyer and second generation Sri Lankan Canadian), and Grace (an adjudicator and third generation Japanese Canadian).

My Thoughts:

Relevant, compelling, compassionate, and fair.

What’s at stake: refugees looking for a safe place to start over versus the safety of current citizens. In order to gain asylum, refugees need to prove that their lives are in danger in their home country as well as satisfy the new country that they are not a safety threat. In The Boat People we become acquainted with one refugee, Mahindan, his lawyer, Priya, and an adjudicator, Grace. The adjudicator is torn between compassion and the fear that a refugee (posing as a terrorist) might harm the citizens of Canada. How can one determine if Mahindan is lying or telling the truth? Readers grow to understand and appreciate Grace’s dilemma and wonder about her final ruling in Mahindan’s case.

Mahindan. In this timely story, I think there might be a third choice in labeling Mahindan as a refugee or terrorist, and that would be as a “victim.” Mahindan and his young son are refugees but as their story unfolds, we see that they are also victims of circumstance and war. Mahindan had to make unfortunate choices in Sri Lanka to ensure his survival which come back to haunt him now during the Canadian interrogations. Consider this scenario: if, as a Sri Lankan mechanic, you are forced to service the vehicle of a terrorist who uses that vehicle in a terrorist attack, does this make you a terrorist by association? Mahindan’s life is complicated by war, hunger, fear, violence, desperate people, and uncertainty, and he has to make tragic choices to protect his family. Will he be granted asylum? As a further complication, Mahindan is separated from his young six-year-old son at the detention center, and the story explores the consequences and implications of this decision.

What I liked. I appreciated the opportunity to read this refugee/immigration story from multiple perspectives, and I thought all sides were presented fairly. It’s sobering to consider what refugees are willing to sacrifice as they hang on to hope for a better future. Even though this is fiction, much of it reads like narrative nonfiction as we learn a great deal about the government process of granting asylum. It is certainly an informative,  thought provoking, and timely read in which it’s apparent that immigration issues aren’t as black and white as readers imagine. This is a story that builds empathy, understanding, and compassion.

What I Wish. Although The Boat People is well researched, compelling, and a compassionate look at world-wide current events, I thought the author might have attempted to cover too much.  In addition, I would have liked a better resolved ending. Last, I was a bit distracted by the lack of punctuation for dialogue. Is this a new trend? If a reader is reading at a fast rate, it’s difficult to discern the difference between the narrative and a character’s direct words. In fairness, others have read it and reported that they hadn’t even noticed. So consider the punctuation critique as coming from a former 5th grade teacher who tortured children to learn proper punctuation of dialogue and file it under “personal preferences.”

Recommended. I highly recommend The Boat People for fans of compelling historical fiction, for readers (and book clubs) who appreciate an in-depth look at a relevant issue in an easily accessed fiction format, and for those who desire to read more diversely. (and for those avant-garde readers who don’t worry about quotations marks!)

My Rating: 4 Stars

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The Boat People by Sharon Bala (cover) Image: a man and a young boy hold hands on a beach looking out over the ocean

The Boat People Information Here

Related: The Beekeeper of Allepo and Refugee (refugee stories)

Meet the Author, Sharon Bala

sharon BalaSharon Bala’s bestselling debut novel, The Boat People, was a finalist for Canada Reads 2018 and the 2018 Amazon Canada First Novel Award. Published in January 2018, it is available worldwide with forthcoming translations in French, Arabic, and Turkish. The unpublished manuscript won the Percy Janes First Novel Award (May 2015) and was short listed for the Fresh Fish Award (October 2015).

In 2017, Sharon won the Journey Prize and had a second story long-listed in the anthology. A three-time recipient of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Arts and Letters award, she has stories published in Hazlitt, Grain, Maisonneuve, The Dalhousie Review, Riddle Fence, Room, Prism international, The New Quarterly, and in an anthology called Racket: New Writing From Newfoundland (Breakwater Books, Fall 2015).

Sharon was born in Dubai, raised in Ontario, and now lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland with her husband, the mathemagician Tom Baird.

QOTD:

Do you enjoy reading diversely or about current issues?

If you’ve read The Boat People, how did you feel about the ending? Has reading The Boat People changed your thoughts about the refugee crisis?

Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection!
Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

Links I Love

1000 Books Before Kindergarten

My Summer 2018 TBR

I’ll be updating my Summer TBR list as I complete each read, so check this link often!
(So far I’ve read more than half of the list, some I’ve been more thrilled with than others, and I’ve only abandoned one)

Looking Ahead:

 Needing a change of pace, this week I’m reading Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan and I am eager to bring you a review next Friday.

Tell Me More

Amazon Information Here

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Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

Book cover and author photos are credited to Amazon.

© ReadingLadies.com

21 comments

    • Thank you Jennifer! I hope you enjoy it! It was one of those books that I thought “I’m glad I read that!” Thanks for stopping in and commenting!

      Reply

  5. Thanks Carol– sounds worthwhile. And so current! I have a heart for immigrants since I taught at a title 1 school with so many immigrant families– and we were Immigrants ourselves the 12 years we lived in Spain. And– I totally agree about the lack of punctuation. I’ve read a few newer books like that. Why?? Happy Reading!! xoxox

    Reply

    • It reads a lot like narrative nonfiction. So much to learn.
      I taught at title 1 too and had the same experiences with families.
      I’m sure the lack of punctuation is meant to torture teachers!
      Thanks for commenting! I hope you find the read valuable and informative.

      Reply

  6. Interesting about the lack of punctuation, Cormac McCarthy does the same thing. I’m one of those who doesn’t notice it and then when I do, I realise how fluid it all becomes and find I quite like it. But then I hated that book:
    Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
    I’m also a teacher (of mature French adults who want to converse in English) and of the school of, life is too short to worry about being grammatically correct, when there are social opportunities to converse and a life to live, because so many are help back from attempting to speak English, by the perception that they must be perfect. So I’m an anti-perfectionist and love the freedom and uninhibited feeling of those who abandon convention. Oops, sorry. 🙂

    Reply

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