Brotherless Night is a book about moral ambiguity and how we decide what we decide in unimaginable times. Ganeshanathan wrote this lit fic novel filled with immense grief, a woman trying to make choices in a world filled with no good choices, and the power of a clear-sighted mentor whose care made a world of difference. 

The professor/mentor was absolutely my favorite character, and was the backbone of this story imho. There are so many traumas enumerated in this book, and although the protagonist, Sashi, tried her best to navigate them, I think the professor/mentor was a shining light and a foil of sorts for Sashi in this novel. 

I would put this book in a similar but different category as Cutting For Stone, a book about how one’s desire to help and save as a medical student/doctor often cannot protect the ones we love. I thought this book was solid litfic, and passed it along to my mother, who likes really middle-of-the-road historical and literary fiction. This is a book about war and how, sometimes, when we gain power, we become the exact thing we are trying to change.