On Sal Mal Lane

Sri Lanka 1979. The Herath family has just moved to Sal Mal Lane a quiet street disturbed only by the cries of the children whose families that live there. As the neighbors adapt to the newcomers in different ways the children fill their days with cricket matches romantic crushes and small rivalries. Their innocence contrasts sharply with the petty prejudices of the adults charged with their care. But the tremors of civil war are mounting and it is only a matter of time before the conflict engulfs them all and the sleepy neighborhood erupts in violence. Tender and heartbreaking On Sal Mal Lane is an evocative story of what was lost to a country and its people. About the Author Ru Freeman is a Sri Lankan-American writer and activist. Her debut novel A Disobedient Girl was longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and translated into seven languages. She has been a fellow of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Yaddo and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She blogs for the Huffington Post on literature and politics and is a contributing editorial board member of the Asian American Literary Review. She calls both Sri Lanka and America home and writes about the people and countries underneath her skin.