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Aversion
This story is a fusion of satire, magical realism, humour, and horror.
This is contemporary Sri Lanka, seen through a specific lens, somewhere in a place located in Samsara, not forty leagues from Paradise as the Tourist Board would have us believe, but much nearer the Other Place. Those grizzled old cartographers made an error when they were detailing its site. But we live here, so we know it from the inside.
We prefer to live on its surface, and avert our gaze from what troubles us, but its tendency to chaos is also inside us. It shows in the high murder rates, the abuse of children, the degradation of women. In the way conformity is endorsed and anything which challenges the ‘norm’ is vilified, from gender diversity to neurodivergence. They call it Paradise, but it is still a work in progress. As are all of us, who live in it.
This is contemporary Sri Lanka, seen through a specific lens, somewhere in a place located in Samsara, not forty leagues from Paradise as the Tourist Board would have us believe, but much nearer the Other Place. Those grizzled old cartographers made an error when they were detailing its site. But we live here, so we know it from the inside.
We prefer to live on its surface, and avert our gaze from what troubles us, but its tendency to chaos is also inside us. It shows in the high murder rates, the abuse of children, the degradation of women. In the way conformity is endorsed and anything which challenges the ‘norm’ is vilified, from gender diversity to neurodivergence. They call it Paradise, but it is still a work in progress. As are all of us, who live in it.
384 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 11, 2026
A brilliant portrayal of Sri Lankan society and its intricacies. The novel is an exploration of modern society and human nature as much as it is an artwork of emotion. It’s moving, thought-provoking and so incredibly eye-opening. If there’s anything you read this year, let this be it!
February 10, 2026
'An Excellent “Self-Help” Book for Our Nation and Times'
Nuanced and deeply considered in its scope and vision, Aversion is a cross-genre work which hums with satire, occasional horror and a dash of magic realism. It exposes our human failings, destructive behaviour patterns and lapses in judgement.
The author thoughtfully unpacks and explores many crucial themes such as misogyny, social dysfunction, intolerance and cyberbullying in Sri Lanka. Yet, the probing of these themes is driven with a compassionate eye, always attempting to understand the primary causes of our problems and to arrive at possible solutions.
Highly recommended!
Nuanced and deeply considered in its scope and vision, Aversion is a cross-genre work which hums with satire, occasional horror and a dash of magic realism. It exposes our human failings, destructive behaviour patterns and lapses in judgement.
The author thoughtfully unpacks and explores many crucial themes such as misogyny, social dysfunction, intolerance and cyberbullying in Sri Lanka. Yet, the probing of these themes is driven with a compassionate eye, always attempting to understand the primary causes of our problems and to arrive at possible solutions.
Highly recommended!
March 18, 2026
Devika Brendon has a clear moral vision of contemporary Sri Lanka. And it's an excoriating perspective of a society unwilling to look at itself, and the hubris that fuels societal hypocrisy. This is not a comfortable read. It is not meant to be. Episodic, experimental in form, deliberately unsettling, and at times, very funny, 'Aversion' is not for the faint-hearted. But it is, in the end, for the big-hearted. For those of us willing to examine the world with courage.
January 13, 2026
A great novel! Aversion seeks to reveal the truth about our society by dismantling the comforting myth of “paradise.” Through stark observations of violence and child abuse, the author exposes the hidden realities that many prefer to ignore.
January 20, 2026
A gritty, thought-provoking page-turner which adeptly and unshrinkingly challenges the modern-day mythology of social constructs and political artifice.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews