In the Shadow of the Banyan (2012) is a historical fiction novel by the Cambodian American author Vaddey Ratner. Set in the 1970s during the Cambodian genocide, the book’s perspective is from Raami, a seven-year-old girl and the daughter of a minor prince whose family is among the millions of Cambodians persecuted by the Khmer Rouge. While Raami’s story hews very closely to Ratner’s own real-life experiences, the author chose to write a work of fiction rather than a memoir because she was too young to remember the events precisely. In 2013, In the Shadow of the Banyan became a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Best Debut Novel.

This study guide refers to the 2012 edition published by Simon & Schuster.

Plot Summary

In April 1975, Raami is the seven-year-old daughter of Sisowath Ayuravann, a minor Cambodian prince whom she refers to as Papa. She lives in a large walled estate in Phnom Penh with Papa, Mama, her toddler sister Radana, her aunt Tata, her grandmother whom they call “Grandmother Queen,” and a staff of servants. When the Cambodian Communist Party—known unofficially as the Khmer Rouge—overthrows the government, soldiers force all residents of Phnom Penh out of their homes, including Raami’s family. At their weekend home just outside the city, the family meets up with Papa’s brother, whom Raami calls Big Uncle, his wife Auntie India, and their four-year-old twin sons.

Soldiers eventually force the family out of their weekend home. They relocate to Prey Veng, a small rural village home to a Buddhist temple. Here, they meet the Kamaphibal, the non-military wing of the Khmer Rouge leadership. In an effort to purge society of foreign influences and to build an agrarian utopia, the Kamaphibal aggressively seeks individuals it deems enemies of the Cambodian Communist Party. These enemies include intellectuals, professionals, former government officials, and especially members of the royal family like Papa. To protect themselves, Raami’s family poses as mango growers. Yet one day, a soldier forces Raami to say her father’s name. Although the name doesn’t immediately register to the soldier, Papa knows it is only a matter of time before the Kamaphibal target his family for elimination. To protect Raami and the others, he offers himself up to the Kamaphibal who take him away for execution.

Not long after, the family must leave Prey Veng. The soldiers separate Mama, Raami, and Radana from the others and send them to a small rice farming community on the banks of the Stung Khae river. They stay in a small, thatched hut with Pok and Mae, an elderly couple. One evening during a harvest festival, Raami naps in the forest instead of watching Radana. A swarm of mosquitoes stings Radana. A few days later, Radana dies of malaria, a tragedy for which Raami blames herself.

When the local Kamaphibal leaders suspect that Mama comes from a wealthy family, they send her and Raami away from Pok and Mae. While in a field awaiting transportation to a labor camp for “undesirables,” Raami and Mama reunite with Big Uncle and Grandmother Queen. Big Uncle reveals that after the Khmer Rouge accused him of being a CIA spy, the soldiers murdered Tata, Auntie India, and his twin sons. Due to logistical confusion, the family avoids the labor camp and ends up in Ksach, a village run by a relatively moderate district leader. By comparison, life in Ksach is calm and stable. Yet the calm is short-lived, as hardliners murder and replace the moderate district leader. The hardliners send Mama and Big Uncle to labor camps but permit Raami to stay behind to care for Grandmother Queen.

When Grandmother Queen dies, leaving Raami without a guardian, she too must go to the labor camp to build giant embankments. For months, Raami, Big Uncle, and Mama work under horrific conditions. They battle starvation by supplementing their diet with cockroaches they find under rocks. After an embankment collapses, killing four children, Big Uncle helps bury the bodies. Not long after, he hangs himself.

In late 1978, Vietnam invades Cambodia. As the war intensifies, soldiers leave for the frontlines, leaving Raami and the other workers increasingly unsupervised. Eventually, work at the camps halts altogether, and Raami and Mama return to Ksach. As defeat looms for the Khmer Rouge, the Kamaphibal flee to the jungle. After the Vietnamese Army liberates Ksach, Mama and Raami join a caravan of survivors who cross the border into Thailand. Once there, a United Nations helicopter spots them and takes Mama and Raami to safety.