"Set in a Sydney nursing home, this moving novel lays bare Australian migrant experiences, racism, colonialism, changing communities and the horrors of the Sri Lankan civil war with tremendous power."
Heart-rending, enlightening and beautifully-written Shankari Chandran’s Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens presents a cast of richly-drawn characters whose stories reveal broad stroke historic, political and cultural contexts. It’s a multi-layered trove of storytelling excellence that also shows how our stories mould us into who we are, and who we become.
Inviting empathy at every turn, the novel is set in the idyllically named Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home in Sydney. Founded by Maya, a Sri Lankan refugee, and now run by her daughter, “over the four decades that Maya has run the nursing home, it has been terraformed from a neglected wilderness to orchards and large beds of vegetables that feed the residents”. It’s a safe oasis, a place where residents’ cultures and histories are respected, and their stories listened to. Through these stories, we learn of the horrors and trauma of the Sri Lankan civil war that saw many flee to Australia, then there’s the prejudice and outright racism migrants faced in their new country, and continue to be confronted by today.
Brimming with a sense of community and love alongside revealing truths about the brutality of war, persecution and racism, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is as gritty as it is gorgeously written – an awareness-raising read with emotional resonance.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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