So it feels almost jarring when his latest novel, Warlight, lays down its narrative gauntlet with a surprisingly earthbound first line: “In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals.” Soon, though, ambiguities creep in; 14-year-old Nathaniel and his older sister, Rachel, quickly learn that their mother has not, in fact, followed their father to Singapore for his new job, though they have no clue where she’s gone instead. And the family friend assigned to look after them, a quiet man they call The Moth, turns their home into a nocturnal clubhouse filled with vivid, shadowy characters: opera singers, haberdashers, petty criminals, even a “verbose beekeeper.”.
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In Warlight, Ondaatje penetrates the complexities of trauma resulting from war. The central figures are teenage brother and sister Nathaniel and Rachel. Rounding out the cast are the siblings’ mother and father and a rogue’s galler y of supporting characters who fill the role of guardians after the parents abandon their children. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje, review: superb spy mystery, wrapped in a coming-of-age riddle.
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