"How is it that so much of this bleak novel is full of beauty, even joy? . . . What is remarkable, and honorable, here is the absence of anger, and the capacity--seemingly infinite--for empathy."

"The horrors committed by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, as experienced by one extremely resilient girl. A brutal novel, lyrically told."

"Unputdownable."

"Lyrical . . . a love story to her homeland and an unflinching account of innocents caught in the crossfire of fanaticism."

"A tale of perseverance, hope and the drive toward life."

"Humanity . . . shines through in her storytelling."

"For all the atrocities witnessed and hardships experienced, Ratner's story is filled to an even larger extent with opportunism and beauty. Ratner's gift is her exquisite descriptions of the careful details of daily life . . . Ratner describes her desire to memorialize the loved ones she lost with an enduring work of art. She has done just that; hers is a beautiful tale with considerable poetry and restraint. "In the Shadow of the Banyan "is an important novel, written by a survivor with unexpected grace and eloquence."

"The powerful story of how even the most brutal regime lacked the power of a father's love for his daughter."

"Gorgeous . . . Ratner bears witness to the unyielding human spirit."