The mid-seventies were a crucial period of time for the tiny Indian Ocean country of Sri Lanka. A mismanaged and stagnant economy, corrupt political system, ethnic unrest, and many other issues changed the country and society drastically during this time. Most people consider seventies the precursor to the brutal civil war in Sri Lanka that lasted for next 30 years.

Against this backdrop, in a very middle-class family living in a suburb of the capital city of Colombo, a teenage boy, Saman meets his first love, Savi. Having grown up in a sheltered middle-class Sri Lankan society, as adults, they are about to face the realities of a very stratified society, which will profoundly change their lives. The story of The Sounds of Distant Waves is what happens to them and their friends in these circumstances.

It is a tale of middle-class Sri Lanka told with affection, nostalgia, laughter and sadness, and painted on a canvas in vivid tropical colours. It offers the reader a glimpse into a time gone by in a far-off land that most outsiders regard as a tropical paradise. It is a story that resonates with the melodies and rhythms of never-ending waves breaking on a beautiful tropical seashore.

This story has been tightly and effortlessly woven between real and imaginary worlds in such a fashion that even readers who have experienced this time period, and those who were closely associated with the places and events that figure prominently in this tale, will find it hard to separate fact from fiction. 

This is Sunil Tantirige’s second book.  His first book, The House of a Thousand Memories, was an autobiographical account of his life in Sri Lanka, where he was born and raised.  It was published in 2019. Sunil now lives in Toronto.

Reviews

Thanks for sharing another great story.  Savi based on a real person?  Is Saman based on your life in Sri Lanka and/or many different people wrapped into one?  The very close family ties are especially nice to see, envious even, since my own relatives are not that close to one another, even though some are in Toronto.  Sometimes it's nice to be left alone, but sometimes it's nice to have more support too. hahah.  

I haven't travelled outside of Canada in a long while, but it's wonderful that your books take us away and into Sri Lankan culture/family connections/community.  Travelling there as a tourist, I would never get this type of insight into the people and culture there, and really that's what makes a place what it is.  

- Carmen – software Designer,  Toronto

I really enjoyed the story. Thank you for allowing me to share Saman's journey as he learned about life.  As a reader I feel like I was growing up with the characters.  I also learned more about Sri Lankan family traditions and politics.  There are several parts of the story that was very moving and made such a strong emotional impact it got me all teary.

- Kay Sum - Toronto

Done.  It was great! Light reading with some history thrown in. For some reason I thought you were writing a suspense novel and not a high school love story, so it’s not what I was expecting. It was a novel very much based on your life, so the pressing question is, did you have a high-school romance that you based your story on?

- Mei T -  Engineer, Toronto

Sunil Tantirige is in the scene, and he has pitched his tent in Toronto and is writing his stories about Sri Lanka. The fact is even if we go to the moon, we Sri Lankans will always have a little corner of our hearts pulsating for the never-forgotten motherland, irrespective of what heavens we reach.

Now we have Canadian resident Sunil Tantirige giving us ‘The songs of distant Waves’. Readable? Yes, affordable? Yes, excellent? That is for you to decide. 

- Capt Elmo Jayawardhana – Sri Lanka

As someone who knows the author personally, I was excited and waiting with anticipation to see the final product of  Sunil's second book, The Songs of Distant Waves, which consists of a captivating love story based on Sri Lanka in the seventies. Congratulations, Sunil! 

- Freeda V – Writer, Toronto

The Songs of Distant Waves is a tender coming-of-age tale that immerses readers in the sun-washed shores near Colombo (in Sri Lanka). The narrative vividly evokes the easy rhythms of coastal life, painting a sensory backdrop that pulses with warmth and nostalgia. At its heart lies Saman’s journey, shaped by the deep bonds of family that anchor him through change and self-discovery. Touching, sweet, and quietly powerful, the story lingers like the echo of waves long after the final page.

- Clara Lee – Engineer, Toronto

My university contemporary, Sunil Tantirige, has just published his second novel, The Songs of Distant Waves. This captivating story follows the journey of its protagonist, Saman, capturing his experiences from receiving his Advanced Level results all the way through his years at university. Told through a vivid third-person perspective, the novel brings to life Sri Lanka in the 1970s and early 1980s—a period marked by compelling daily vignettes and the backdrop of ethnic troubles, offering a window into a nearly forgotten way of life. Saman attends University of Moratuwa, my alma mater, making the narrative especially meaningful for fellow graduates and current students. Sunil’s storytelling will resonate with anyone familiar with campus life, nostalgia, and the socio-cultural fabric of our times. 

If you’re nostalgic about student life, curious about our history, or simply looking for a moving, well-crafted novel set in Sri Lanka, The Songs of Distant Waves is definitely worth reading.

- Kanishka A. – Engineer, Huston

I finished reading your book this morning. I enjoyed it very much. It gives the reader a clear impression of Sri Lanka, its people, its problems, but most of all what a stunning place it is. The characters are well drawn, I was attracted to every member of the Palihawadana family, for different reasons, and I thought that the ethnic tensions were handled well. As I was reading, I couldn't help thinking of the Sunil that I know and I kept wondering to what extent the story is autobiographical. The three siblings, Saman, Raj, and Lanki, are quite different because of their natures and their life experiences and those difference give a good deal of interesting depth and tension to the story.

In 1980, Maggie and I were wrapping up a two-year work term with the UN in Vienna. We became aware of an extremely favourably priced two week package trip to Sri Lanka, but at that point Maggie already had a job offer in Toronto and there wasn't enough time to squeeze in a trip to Colombo. Our loss. Any later than that and the war in Sri Lanka would have made such a trip impossible. I had heard from a number of people how attractive Sri Lanka was and we regretted not being able to go. Your book has hinted at just how much we missed.

I think that most of all "The Songs of Distant Waves" speaks to me of how difficult it can be to change countries, even under the best of circumstances, and that for any such change one has to try to grasp just what one is leaving (although it's hard to know what that is until it is no longer there).

I would welcome the opportunity to get together with you and talk about the book and your experience of writing it.

- Keith Weaver, Engineer, writer, and my former coworker,  Toronto