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Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
Genre: Literary Fiction / Contemporary Fiction

Book Review:
Rails Run Parallel is a quiet, reflective, and deeply moving novel from Ayathurai Santhan, an accomplished Sri Lankan writer whose work has been recognized with multiple literary awards. This novel tells the story of Sivan, a contemplative man who travels from Colombo to Jaffna in the days before the ethnic riots following the 1977 General Election, and later returns to a Colombo that is both familiar and unfamiliar.

The novel is structured around journeys—physical journeys across the country, and emotional journeys through memories and ruminations on the present. Santhan weaves together a rich mosaic of narratives, exploring themes of love and hate, trust and distrust, and the fusion of past and present. An untold love story slowly unfolds as Sivan encounters and remembers others along the way.

What makes this novel particularly compelling is its exploration of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict from a deeply personal perspective. Santhan captures the yearning of a society to learn to trust each other in a time charged with the rhetoric of difference. His prose is elegant and understated, allowing the emotional weight of the story to resonate.

This book is highly recommended for readers interested in Sri Lankan fiction, literary fiction, and stories that explore the complexities of identity and belonging.