The Last Brother
SynopsisPlot
In The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah, 1944 is coming to a close and nine-year-old Raj is unaware of the war devastating the rest of the world. He lives in Mauritius, a remote island in the Indian Ocean, where survival is a daily struggle for his family. When a brutal beating lands Raj in the hospital of the prison camp where his father is a guard, he meets a mysterious boy his own age. David is a refugee, one of a group of Jewish exiles whose harrowing journey took them from Nazi occupied Europe to Palestine, where they were refused entry and sent on to indefinite detainment in Mauritius. A massive storm on the island leads to a breach of security at the camp, and David escapes, with Raj's help. After a few days spent hiding from Raj's cruel father, the two young boys flee into the forest. Danger, hunger, and malaria turn what at first seems like an adventure to Raj into an increasingly desperate mission.
Story
About this book
In 1944, nine-year-old Raj lives on Mauritius, a small island in the Indian Ocean, far from the fighting of the Second World War. His family struggles to survive, and his father works as a guard at a prison camp. After a severe beating puts Raj in the camp hospital, he meets David, a boy his own age, one of a group of Jewish refugees.
David and his companions fled Nazi-occupied Europe for Palestine, were refused entry, and were sent on to indefinite detention on Mauritius. The friendship forms across a sharp divide: Raj knows little beyond his island, while David has already crossed continents under threat. When a powerful storm damages the camp, David escapes with Raj's help, and the boys hide from Raj's violent father before heading into the forest.
What begins as something close to adventure for Raj shifts as hunger, danger, and malaria close in. Nathacha Appanah sets the story against a documented episode: from 1940 to 1945, Jewish detainees were held at a camp in Beau Bassin, Mauritius, after being turned away from Palestine. The narration keeps to a child's limited, immediate understanding.
