Staff Pick
Ondaatje's gorgeous story of postwar Britain is told with just enough information to keep you hanging on. Nathaniel's mother deserts him and his sister to work in the war effort, and that desertion is the through-line that lives inside Nathaniel for the rest of his life. Despite her silence and his frustration with no answers, he is determined to unravel his mother's story. Ondaatje explores themes of abandonment, secrecy, trust, loss, and childhood, but he withholds as much as he shares; there are no perfectly tied-up ends here. Beautifully written, Warlight is a story of how lives can be damaged beyond repair, and how practically impossible it is to live with that damage. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com