In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner

As a child, author Vaddey Ratner experienced the Khmer Rouge’s tyrannical subjugation of Cambodia from 1975-1979. She survived forced labor, searing hunger, and near execution, finally attaining freedom while between 1 and 2 million of her fellow citizens died. This gripping novel, based on her story, reveals a world gone mad where the oppressors reduced Cambodians to this dictum: “To keep you is no gain, to kill you is no loss.” Written from a Buddhist, reincarnational worldview, In the Shadow of the Banyan gives readers an insider’s view on a time that had “no logic to it” and yet many stories of love, hope, and courage emerged among the chaos. (Simon & Schuster)