I’ve read copious novels about the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide, but few have moved me as much as Thien’s. ‘Dogs at the Perimeter’ is about running from the past and the impossibility of doing so. It reminds us that our experiences are inseparable from our identity, and that to remove these delicate building blocks unravels the self. ‘Dogs’ revolves around ‘Janie’, a Cambodian woman who survived the terror of genocide and escaped to Canada. Since then, she has gained a successful career, a husband, and a son. I wish that was the end. Instead, Janie is haunted by her past and allows it to erode her present. She abandons her family and takes refuge at the home of a colleague who has disappeared. As she tries to unravel his mystery, her own is unlocked. This is a rare novel where beauty and horror intertwine perfectly. It also contains the most important and stunning line I’ve read about the importance of bearing witness: "Inside us, from the beginning, we are entrusted with many lives, from the first morning to the last we carry them until the end." A must-read. 5/5 ⭐️ #book #books #ukbookstagram #madelinethein #dogsattheperimeter #contemporaryfiction #fiction #cambodianliterature #khmerrouge #cambodiangenocide #manbookerprize #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2ql_llis_/?igshid=3tip9nch6ryb