Shortlisted for the Costa (Whitbread) 2007 First Novel Award Set adrift by the recent death of his wife, Theo Samarajeeva abandons his comfortable writer's life in London and returns to Sri Lanka, his war-torn homeland. There he finds himself slipping into friendship with Nulani, a talented and enigmatic young artist-a friendship that blossoms into love. Under the threat of a rising terrorist insurgency, their affair offers a glimmer of hope in a country on the brink of destruction. But when the insurgency explodes, their precarious world is torn apart. Theo is held captive and stripped of everything he once held dear. Nulani is forced into exile. No one, it seems, is safe; only the sea and the land remain breathtakingly lovely. As the country descends into a morass of violence and hatred, the tragecy of civil conflict spreads like a poison among friends and lovers sickened by the fac of war. Ultimately, each of them will be tested in the most terrible ways. By turns heartbreaking and uplifting, Mosquito is a first novel of remarkable beauty and compelling power.
'Heart-rending...Readers of this powerful novel cannot fail to be moved...but they will also realise that, as well as being a rebuke to indifference, the book is also about hope and survival.' Christopher Ondaatje, Spectator
'"Mosquito" plays with sensuous mixes of human bestiality and natural beauty...It is in this continuing agency of remembered love - presented as the colours, sounds and smells of art, in dialogue with beauty and horror - that the uplifting politics of this fine novel lies.' Independent
'"Mosquito" lyrically captures a country drenched in both incomparable beauty and the stink of hatred.' Guardian
'Lovely, vividly described.' The Times
'Tearne brings her skills as a painter to her writing, creating some extraordinarily lovely portraits of Sri Lankan land and seascapes, a stunning backdrop to the changing horrors of the country's 20-year civil war. Anyone who has visited, or has a passing interest in Sri Lanka, should read this beautiful novel.' Sunday Telegraph
'"Mosquito" is a complex, ambitious book from a writer with a real talent for language. We will be hearing a great deal about Ms. Tearne in the future.' Lauren B. Davis, author of 'The Stubborn Season' and 'The Radiant City'
'"Mosquito" plays with sensuous mixes of human bestiality and natural beauty...It is in this continuing agency of remembered love - presented as the colours, sounds and smells of art, in dialogue with beauty and horror - that the uplifting politics of this fine novel lies.' Independent
'"Mosquito" lyrically captures a country drenched in both incomparable beauty and the stink of hatred.' Guardian
'Lovely, vividly described.' The Times
'Tearne brings her skills as a painter to her writing, creating some extraordinarily lovely portraits of Sri Lankan land and seascapes, a stunning backdrop to the changing horrors of the country's 20-year civil war. Anyone who has visited, or has a passing interest in Sri Lanka, should read this beautiful novel.' Sunday Telegraph
'"Mosquito" is a complex, ambitious book from a writer with a real talent for language. We will be hearing a great deal about Ms. Tearne in the future.' Lauren B. Davis, author of 'The Stubborn Season' and 'The Radiant City'