Canadian author Karen Connelly proves that it doesn’t take a local author to write convincingly and passionately about national issues. In The Lizard Cage, popular singer Teza is a political prisoner in oppressive military-run Burma in the 1990s. Through careful, confident and fast-paced prose, Connelly achieves extraordinary insight into the mind of ‘The Songbird’, sentenced to 20 years in solitary confinement for his gentle songs of protest. We live with him in his ‘lizard cage’ – the tiny coffin-like cell where he hunts and eats lizards to supplement his missing prison rations. During Teza’s internment, his memories, staunch Buddhist teachings, treasured scraps of newspaper and unlikely allies keep him alive, all the while at the mercy of brutal wardens. The inevitable reign of madness and terror stakes its claim on Teza’s brutalised physical body, but his spirit remains intact; and thanks to hope, ‘messages walk out into the world and speak’. Connelly’s meticulously researched novel is based on many true stories emerging from Burma (Myanmar) – perhaps the most chilling message of all. Connelly’s award-winning debut is one worth keeping.