Background Details of Sonali Deraniyagala


Sonali Deraniyagala is a Sri Lankan who studied, worked , married and lived in England. She is an economist by profession, she married Steve Lissonburgh - a research professor and had two sons: Vickram and Malli.  

They came to Sri Lanka on a holiday in 2004 and on 26th December, they were caught in the devastating Tsunami which swept over Southern part of Sri Lanka. They were in a hotel in Yala which was overrun by the fatal tidal wave. Sonali Lost her husband, her two young sons and her parents. She was herself badly injured but survived.

For a long time, she could not accept the truth of her loss and attempted several times to kill herself but her watchful relations prevented her from harming herself. After about three years, she went to her home in London where objects used by her husband and sons as well as their memory persuaded her to accept the truth of her loss. Sonali lives in New York and works as a visiting lecture at the University of Colombia. 

Wave is her memoir, recording the events of the fateful December 26th. It brings back her pain and agony. It is a living testimony of the horror of the Tsunami and of human Suffering and endurance. 

Source: FEP TV Sri Lanka


Related Posts:

Nostalgic Recollection with Sonali Deraniyagala

Instinctive Motherhood amid of Danger in the extract 'Wave' by Sonali Deraniyagala

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