Sunday Times 2
Ayathurai Santhan discusses new novel, ‘Twice Upon a Lifetime’
View(s):A conversation with Ayathurai Santhan on his latest novel Twice Upon a Lifetime, will take place on February 25 from 4.30 pm to 6 pm at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) Colombo 7.
The discussion will be moderated by Dr Vihanga Perera, Senior Lecturer at the Department of English, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Copies of the book will be on sale at the event.
Published in January 2026, Twice Upon a Lifetime is a meditation on memory, resilience, and reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka. Narrated from the point of view of three drivers across two timelines set in Kenya and Sri Lanka, the primary plot is set in 2022, during the economic crisis of Sri Lanka. The novel follows the memories and reflection of Sivan, an elderly man from Jaffna, as he embarks on a journey to Colombo during the height of the fuel shortage, to find closure to a relationship that was abruptly disrupted years ago. What emerges in the non-linear dialogic narrative is a quest, both literal and metaphorical, of a man who has lived through the violence war, as he invites conversations on reconciliation and forgiveness with a younger generation that has inherited new challenges in the aftermath of the crisis.
In an appraisal of the novel, Nabanita Sengupta writes, “Twice Upon a Lifetime is a story that unfolds like a game of treasure hunt, and in the process unwraps the history of the country…There is a strong resilience in the novel, similar to that of the author himself for whom the zest for life is equal to living.” In the preface to the novel, Manikya Kodituwakku writes that the novel “is a timely reminder that reconciliation begins with conversations and dialogues across shared spaces, whether over a cup of tea or with a prayer at a shrine, between people living the ordinary rhythms of life.”
