Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
Welcome to Cinnamon Gardens, a home for those who are lost and the stories they treasure.
Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney – populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights – a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful recreation schedule.
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But this ordinary neighbourhood is not without its prejudices. The serenity of Cinnamon Gardens is threatened by malignant forces more interested in what makes this refuge different rather than embracing the calm companionship that makes this place home to so many. As those who challenge the residents’ existence make their stand against the nursing home with devastating consequences, our characters are forced to reckon with a country divided.
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is about family and memory, community and race, but is ultimately a love letter to story-telling and how our stories shape who we are.
My Review
If you were looking for a light-hearted, funny read, you might be surprised. This is not The Good Karma Hospital. I am devastated. Not because it’s not Good Karma, but because there are images I will never get out of my head. Why are people so cruel to each other? I don’t understand. We could all live together in peace so easily.
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is a masterpiece and everyone should read it. Because it’s not just about the predicament of the Tamils or outright racism. (Imagine being asked a question and giving your answer in Tamil. Having petrol poured over you and being set alight. Answer in Sinhalese and they let you go.) It could be Nazi Germany and the Jews. Or Palestine and Israel. Or even Northern Ireland. Or homophobia or transphobia.
But off my soapbox and back to the book. It’s written from the point of view of a number of the characters. We also revisit timelines from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. It talks about the burning of the Jaffna Public Library which took place on the night of June 1, 1981. And the torture and genocide of so many people.
First we have Maya, now in old age, mourning the loss of her husband archaeologist Zakhir, ten years earlier, as well as her father in terrible circumstances many years before. ‘Possession of land is nine-tenths of the law. Possession of history is nine-tenths of the future,’ her father said. His book made him an outlaw.
Her daughter Anji is a twin, though her brother doesn’t really feature in the book. She runs Cinnamon Gardens now her mother has retired. She is married to Nathan and they have three children.
Then there is Nikki, whose daughter Florence died ten months ago, leaving her with a young son Oscar, and her husband Councillor Gareth Barton. At one point he behaves unforgivably towards his wife, but he has never really been able to grieve properly for Florence and it has torn them apart. He is still in the anger phase of grieving and is unable to move on.
Ruben is Tamil and works at the nursing home. He has been beaten up for being a person of colour, even in Australia. In many of ‘his’ chapters he takes us back to the terrible things that happened before he left Sri Lanka.
The elderly residents of Cinnamon Gardens are a real mix, all with ‘colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings’. They are all called Aunty or Uncle by the carers and visitors alike. Some of their back stories are heartbreaking, especially Uncle Saha Anna, who was a gemologist in Sri Lanka. Shanthi and Maya knew each other from University and still hate one another. Ray is Nikki’s father.
As the story unfolds, we witness not just the terrible events in Sri Lanka in previous decades, but also the creeping racism in modern Australia. Allowed to get totally out of hand, it results in the most devastating of consequences. Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens will be stamped on my memory for years to come.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Shankari Chandran was raised in Canberra, Australia. She spent a decade in London, working as a lawyer in the social justice field. She eventually returned home to Australia, where she now lives with her husband, four children and their cavoodle puppy, Benji. In January 2017, she published her first book with Perera-Hussein, called Song of the Sun God. Her second book, The Barrier, was published in June 2017.
