This third novel in Devakanthan's quintet, Prison of Dreams, depicts the lives of the rural Tamil population of Sri Lanka during its tragic civil war (1983-2009). It was a dark time of repression and exile, a time of utter despair, in which innocence turned to ruin, a way of life disappeared. As the author writes,

" . . . stabbings, deaths, and shattered limbs were . . . a part of their story. Death swooped in, randomly snatched people up, old, young, or newborn. The bombs exploded like thunder, stopping many hearts . . . when wood and wheelchairs substituted for legs. Artificial hands were not much use. It was a time of deprivation, and survival was everything. Our earth / our days / when none of it / is for us / a time like this / could not come again . . . such torment. So Yasothara / you / live in this moment . . . "