Serendipity [Paperback]

by Ashok Ferrey

BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Ashok Ferrey - Sri Lanka Born in Colombo, raised in East Africa, educated at a Benedictine monastery in the wilds of Sussex, Ferrey read Pure Maths at Christ Church Oxford, ending up (naturally) in Brixton, converting Victorian houses during the Thatcher Years.

He describes himself as a failed builder, indifferent mathematician, barman and personal trainer to the rich and infamous. Ferrey's Colpetty People was short-listed for the Gratiaen Prize in 2003.

His second book The Good Little Ceylonese Girl was published in December 2006. Today Ferrey continues to design houses, and is a guest lecturer at the Sri Lanka Institute of Architecture.

Reviews

[Cinnamon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I found Serendipity to be all-over-the-place. The blurb says ‘..part thriller, part satire, part comedy of manners..”, but I felt like all these parts didn’t mesh together very well.
The characters were terribly one dimensional, and not exactly likeable, but I guess, as a satire, maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be? At least the voice is authentic; Ferrey writes exactly in the tone of that one Colombo uncle we’ve all got, the one with cirrhosis and a lot of opinions.
This is not the sort of book that I’ll re-read, but I have inadvertently memorized the line that starts: “I lost my country in a fire once..” 1980s Sri Lanka holds so much ponderosity, so many stories that need to be told, and I hope that someday soon, they will be heard.

[Sairam Krishnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little up and down, a little disjointed, a little all over the place.

And yet (perhaps because the place is Ceylon) a delicious book, mostly because of the writing. Ferrey is good, and he sticks to his theme throughout.

Enjoyed it quite a bit.

[M B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really witty writing in bursts, but the plot could have been tighter maybe.

[Shantalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little disjointed in parts which made it a bit tough to keep track of all the connections. I also think it helps to have some personal insight into Sri Lankan culture as there are lots of local terms thrown in with no explanation which I guess would go over the heads of the wider readership. Still, the author has a lovely way with words and a great sense of humour, which are redeeming features of this book.

[Pramodha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sri Lankan writers should consider a lot more important issues when they write novels about the country. I didn’t enjoy this book at ALL. I despised the over-descriptive nature and how the writer dealt with sexual fantasies of the characters. You can write better, thematic stories without having so many sex/romance/comedy linked plots.

[lihinay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn't be surprised if you as a reader couldn't find yourself in "Serendipity", to be frank. The characters are so translucent and stereotyped to the point I just thought, it felt like he had spread his butter distastefully thin on his never-ending slices of characters.

[leenawho · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a painful read. The writer tries too hard to portray stereotypes. Far too many witticisms and they all fall flat.

[Jeeva · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like the way the book flowed. It seemed like sexuality was a major deal. Put me off a bit that the characters seemed to always think about sex. Got tiring

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

A painful read.

[Priyanka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes: Signed copy, store purchase

Actual rating: 2.5/5

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I understand what the author is trying to convey. That life is a work-in-progress painting of people, events, thoughts and emotions. And that the picture only makes sense (and becomes complete and somewhat symmetrical) when you arrive at a specific destination. Piyumi, the MC, too, has a purpose, unknown to her until the end of the book. On the other hand, when it comes to the muddy and even clear waters she has to wade through to realise her destiny, I’m not sure. As a picture or kaleidoscope in progress, these situations work, but not really as a read, considering they test your patience. You have no concrete idea why Piyumi feels the way she does or the rationale behind her actions. The only justification given is that it’s ‘serendipity’. That’s why you don’t connect with her much (though things change in the climax). The scenes depicting her sexual encounters and relationships occupy way too much space and, therefore, slow down the narrative. Before the big climactic reveal, you may feel as if she’s stringing her partners along and using them as a pastime, which makes Piyumi extremely unrelatable. Moreover, the book features some annoying stereotypes, including for a Pakistani guy.

Overall, Serendipity is a good book that will ignite your curiosity in the history and politics of Sri Lanka. It only needs some more imaginative situations to retain your interest.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most of its length, the book isn't really in a class with Ferrey's later novels, like "The Unmarriageable Man" or "The Ceaseless Chatter of Demons." The romantic and other misadventures of its large cast do have a kind of Richard Curtis charm, to the point where, even though the story is set in Colombo, Sri Lanka, I confidently expected everything would at last fall satisfyingly into place on a snowy, old-fashioned Christmas. Then come the last few chapters, bringing a change of mood that earns the fourth star. I'm not going to say more about it than that.

As always, Ferrey is concerned with the differences between Sri Lankan expats (whether in Knightsbridge or working-class South London) and their family members and friends who stayed home: two ways of looking at their native country, seemingly unbridgeable. The subject gains from the setting -- the 1980s, with the first stirrings of the long civil war -- and the mix of returnees, Brits, and upper- and lower-class locals who populate the book.

I could have lived without the incessant puns. They help define one of the characters, a laconic middle-aged man whose response to any drama in his wife's life is a one-liner in the 007 manner; they're less amusing when the author serves them up on his own account. Ferrey hadn't yet conquered the urge to commit jocular wordplay. But one or two of his lines are clever and even insightful, and in any case you can read around the others.

[Leah Sebastian Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sri Lanka’s McCall Smith - the book is playful and funny with an altogether ridiculous plot line that flits dangerously between the plausible and utterly chaotic - rather reminiscent of Sri Lanka and its workings (as it is of other Indian subcontinent inhabitants including my own country India).

There is very little structure or flow to the chapters, with the subject of every other para changing and lots of crossovers in context and interconnected caricature-ish characters - but Ferrey has a clever way with words and this is a satire so that’s probably more a feature than a flaw.

Overall very entertaining.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

It felt insubstantial at first but I really enjoyed reading it. There are some Sri Lankan references I didn't get and of course I don't have the cultural background to really understand the castes and the politics. There were a few grammar issues like changing who was speaking.

But all in all, I laughed, I felt the pain of unrequited love and it was quick and enjoyable.

[Udari Perera · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a saying never judge a book by its cover. For this case never judge a book by its name. The book was marketed as "a love story and a beautiful ancestral house at Colombo 7". Yes. The stroy revolved around an ancestral home in Colombo but never read this book expecting a romance novel. The closest genre for this book may be Satire and dark comedy. Did I love this book ? I cannot say I hate it. But the characters were flat and didn't feel any bonding with them, especially for the main Character Piyumi.

[Maida]

Despite the story & plot being all over the place I enjoyed it quite a bit and was able to make sense of it. The characters were imperfect, dull and frustrating at times, but true to themselves. Some bits were weird, but I guess that does happen in real. Humorously, it got the election turmoil and the ugliness it comes with right.

[Emma Hölge · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 point something / 5

ADORED IT.
Amazing writing, amazing description. Really captures the essence of the Sub-Continent. Truly is able to describe the colloquial motions that make it amazing.
The characters and how relatable they are, and the sad and totally unexpected ending. Loved it loved it.

Could not recommend it more

[Zoey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the humour and the cultural references, but the plot didn't make much sense, and was really slow and then way too fast at the end. The story as a whole didn't make much sense or have a real purpose. Most of the characters also came across as pervy.

[Amashi De Mel Hersh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Impressive use of language, but lacks a good story line - a frustrating read.

[Lostcurrently · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little here and there and disjoint. Though the plot was interesting, it was a little difficult to follow the flow since its all over the place.

[Inu · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ENDING

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this - enhanced by reading it in Sri Lankan while holidaying. Picked it up in a book swap shelf at a farmstay. Fun recognising places.

[Bethan Chadwick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf, trash sorry

[VaultOfBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

By Ashok Ferrey. Grade: B+
Serendipity (noun) – the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; a natural gift for making useful discoveries by accident.

Written in the last months of the Sri Lankan civil war, Serendipity is a valuable appraisal of contemporary history as well as a good read.
Shifting between London and Sri Lanka and set in the 1980s, when the twenty- six-year civil war in Sri Lanka had only just begun, Serendipity is part satire, part thriller, part comedy of manners. Piyumi Segarajasingham, young London

Serendipity by Ashok Ferrey
barrister, half-Tamil, half-Sinhalese, returns to Sri Lanka to take charge of her family’s share of the inheritance. She wants to keep her share of it, the servants’ quarters of the house called Serendipity, in Colombo’s colonial quarter, Cinnamon Gardens. But this will devalue the rest of the house that her relatives are so keen in sell. In Sri Lanka, Piyumi meets a motley assortment of characters. The pivotal question will the young lovers Piyumi and Marek, the stranger she met in London, ever get together? is shrouded by twists and turns in the plot and memorable characters, who Ferrey fixes with merciless wit and pin-sharp accuracy. Ferrey’s lightness of touch and ability to create humour out of the ordinary is peerless; he is a forerunner in this tradition in contemporary Sri Lankan fiction in English.

Sometimes a great theme, superb writing, well-fitted characters still doesn’t make a great book, and Ashok Ferry’s Serendipity falls smack in the middle of that category. However, unlike most of the lowbrow satire in bookstores these days, this one has a particularly razor sharp satire. Breezy humor in parts help maintain the interest . The best and probably the bad part is, Serendipity doesn’t reveal its writhing agony until the final act.

The story is simple and fast despite juggling a large cast. The large part of the story is set in the Sri Lanka of 80′s, when the country is slowly embroiled in a civil war. In this struggle, it’s hard to determine which side is worse: the government or the rebels. Against this background, Piyumi Segarajasingham, a young London barrister, half Tamil, half Sinhalese returns to Sri Lanka to take charge of her family’s share of inheritance. And it turns out to be a journey in more ways than one: a discovery of roots, and a realization of who she is, and what she wants from life.

Skanda, the grocery store owner, in reality works in an undercover organization as middleman in collecting information of socio-political conditions in Sri Lanka for some “unknown” superior. Debs is a bi-sexual immigrant NGO officer who is running “Women In Want”. Viraj, a hammiest ham hock pumping half the annual energy drink stock of Colombo, is a three-wheeler driver from a “watta’. Marek is a Polish school teacher (by virtue of his color of skin) in one of few high profile Sri Lankan international schools. Marek met Piyumi in London in Skanda’s shop for a carton of guava juice and fell neck deep in love. And yes there is also a spy called Lenin Marx Siddhu. There are too many greedy politicians, restless land lords, worried relatives and many more characters to keep count.

Sometimes, reading it made me feel like a lost traveler in Sri Lanka strapped to a burden of unknown memories. It gets hokey at times, especially when Ashok Ferry, alias Suresh Mudannayake, talks about the socio-political tastebuds of Sri Lanka. There are many sub plots exploring human nature and needs, but he fails to take these digressions to explore sensitive issues in any unique way. Sadly, after a point it becomes difficult to care about any of the characters on any level. Marek loves Piyumi. Piyumi does not. Debs Love Piyumi. Piyumi does not. Viraj loves Debs. Debs does not. Piyumi and Viraj come together for a while, albeit no one actually loves the other. Piyumi sleeps with all of them. At times Ferry has shown all Sri Lankans as an incontrovertible illustration of greed, a joke of apolitical arrogance that ceases to be funny.

There are also some inconsistencies that do not correspondences to time and space of the book. Serendipity is set in the 1980s, and yet there are mentions of ‘Hi’ magazine, speeches on inflation, Twitter. Piyumi leaves Sri Lanka as a child in 1983 as a little girl but practices as a barrister in 1989. I may not be Professor Moriarty but I know my maths. You can dismiss it by calling it pretentious but you can compliment it by calling it indulgent and witty.
The saving grace is that you’d have to be made of stone to not to be entertained by Mr Ferry. A book with plenty of good points, and plenty of bad ones. The call would have to be yours.

Originally reviewed at http://vaultofbooks.com/

[Aamina Muhsin]

Pleasantly surprised by this book. Ferrey's sense of humor in Serendipity is brilliant! Loving it!

[Indiabookstore · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first picked up this book, I but naturally assumed that as the title suggests ‘Serendipity’ would be all about chance happenings; little did I know that my misconception was soon to be countered.

As per habit, I casually flipped the book over to read the synopsis, and there it was in the first paragraph itself… “Shifting between London and Sri Lanka and set in the 1980’s, when the twenty-six year civil war had only just begun, Serendipity is part satire, part thriller, part comedy of manners”. Only after a few chapters later was I to learn that serendipity is actually the name of a house in Colombo’s cinnamon gardens and has nothing to do with chanced encounters.

Ashok Ferrey begins the plot with a ‘Boom’… literally! An explosion – untimed, unannounced, unexplained! Followed by a scene shifting to London, where we are introduced to the female protagonist of the novel – Piyumi, a half Tamil, half Sinhalese barrister, who is extremely overjoyed at the opportunity of being the heir to a cultural heritage in Sri Lanka, a part of ‘Serendipity’; and she takes it in her stride to reclaim what is rightfully hers!

Focus shifts to another character – Marek, a Polish builder who accidently crosses path with Piyumi in London and follows her all the way to Sri Lanka, to try and make her fall in love with him. The next character we meet is Viraj, an ambitious gym instructor in Sri Lanka, who aspires of living the foreign dream; followed by Debs, a homosexual NGO worker and the centre of Viraj’s fancy....

For the full review, visit IndiaBookStore.

[Shyama Perera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashok Ferrey's novel is set in the 1980s in the early years of Sri Lanka's violent political turmoil, and is merciless - yet kind - in its cariacaturing of the elite who live in the Colombo 7 postcode.

Piyumi's mother has relocated in London, living a wealthy ex-pat life in Knightsbridge. She has no interest in the detail when she inherits a portion of the ancestral home. Her daughter, a desultory lawyer with no focus, decides to return to the island and sort things out. Before she goes, she's recruited by an exiled Sri Lankan warlord in Clapham, to act as his gofer. And when she arrives in the Sri Lankan capital, she runs into Marek, a London neighbour with whom she had a one night stand. Marek loves Piyumi, Piyumi loves Viraj the tuk-tuk driver, Viraj loves Debs, the lesbian CEO of an NGO, and Debs loves herself. Meanwhile, the politician's wife next door is bored with her stuffed polar bear and terrorists are using Piyumi as a buffer... The scene is set for some hilarious goings on.

Ferrey's style is easy and funny and he whips through a fairly complex plot - possibly a too complex plot - with charm. My one reservation about this book is that it's rich with Sri Lankan terminology and very funny cariacatures of the elite of Colombo, and I wonder how much enjoyment someone with no experience of the SL class system or its political system will get from this novel set on the eve of destruction.

[ABK Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashok using his talent to the maximum keeps the reader entertained until the last chapter. His brilliant use of satire to ridicule and belittle the so-called egoistic Sri Lankans makes upto his somewhat vague descriptions (mostly as the novel is short) of Sri Lankan society. Being a Sri Lankan myself, I understood that he has gone beyond the barriers set by all kinds of taboos and political persona. Though the twists and turns of the plot are not so smooth, he has been able to write a novel every reader can enjoy. Every Sri Lankan should read this novel.

[Tabitha]

can't wait tobuy this!!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting somewhat crazy story, funny, but not as funny as his other books, but good, I liked it

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever book about Sri Lankan characters who get connected in many ways into a tale of romance and intrigue.