‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens’ by Shankari Chandran

Did this really win the Miles Franklin Prize in 2023? What on earth else was on the shortlist?

The 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist was:

• Hopeless Kingdom by Kgsak Akec (my review here)
• Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (my review here)
• Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
• Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
• The Lovers by Tumna Kassab
• Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor

I’ve only read the first two of these, and it seems that I wasn’t particularly impressed with them either. Five of the authors were first-time nominees, and one was a debut author. It’s commendable to open it up to new talent, perhaps, but given that the Miles Franklin is still Australia’s premier literary prize, I don’t know that we were given six books that are going to last.

There’s nothing wrong with this book. It makes a perfectly good bookgroup book. It is packed full with issues: racism, domestic violence, PTSD, loyalty, colonialism, Tamil and Sri Lankan history. In fact, it’s probably too packed with issues. For an Australian readership, it introduces Tamil history and the violence in Sri Lanka that most of us have forgotten about (if we were ever very aware of it). It is even more relevant today than it was in 2023, with the rise of One Nation and March for Australia.

It is set in a nursing home, run by Anjali (Anji) who took it over from her mother Maya who relinquished it after her husband Zakhir left unexpectedly never to return. The narrative runs on two timelines: the present day and flashback.

The present day involves the marital strains between the home’s geriatrician Nikki,and her husband Gareth, a local councillor and hopeful political candidate, whose marriage is tense after the death of their toddler daughter Florence. Although Gareth doesn’t know it, his wife is having an affair with Ruben, a Sri Lankan worker at the home, who is clearly overqualified for the job but happy to take it. Thrashing about in his unhappiness, Gareth becomes caught up in a racist maelstrom, prompted by finding a statue of Captain Cook abandoned under the nursing home.

The flashbacks take us back to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and the civil war between the Tamils through the terrorist group, the Tamil Tigers, and the Sinhalese army. But the flashbacks are handled awkwardly, and inserted clunkily into the text.

There’s just too much going on here. No doubt it will spark a good discussion at bookgroup next week, but I don’t think that it’s Miles Franklin material.

My rating: 7

Sourced from: Ladies Who Say Oooh Bookgroup