CHAI TIME AND CINNAMON GARDENS by Shankari Chandran

There’e been a lot of hype around the Australian novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens this year and, after spending a few days with the Cinnamon Gardens characters, it is easy to see why.

There’e been a lot of hype around the Australian novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens this year and, after spending a few days with the Cinnamon Gardens characters, it is easy to see why.

Cinnamon Gardens is an aged care home in Sydney, named after the gardens of the same name in Sri Lanka. The Sydney version is owned by Sri Lankan migrants who escaped the war in Sri Lanka years earlier. The story is about various people connected to the home: Maya, the matriarch of Cinnamon Gardens, her daughter Anji, one of their employees Ruben, their onsite doctor, Nikki (also Anji’s best friend since childhood) and Nikki’s ex-husband, local councillor Gareth.

What transpired over the novel is both confronting yet unsurprising, particularly as I have read this at a time when racism in Australia seems to be rampant and permissible, under the guise of politics and free speech.

I knew virtually nothing about Sri Lankan Tamils before reading this novel - all I knew was that there was a war and the Tamils were seen as the “bad guys”. I am nowhere near educated enough to know the truth of that, but this novel definitely gave me pause for thought and a snapshot of Tamil history I definitely was not aware of. For that alone, I am really glad I read this novel.

Chandran’s writing keeps a great pace - this is not a novel where anyone gets bored or stops long enough to procrastinate. Further, this is a story, told from many perspectives, that gave a wonderful insight into migrant life, migrant-run business and the challenges they continue to face, despite ticking all the “boxes” of assimilation they’re notionally required to do. It also offered some insight into intra-racial conflict - that within communities of immigrants. We too-often forget that immigrant groups are not monoliths and a range of views, traditions and beliefs can be held within them. Again, in the current Australian climate, this is an important reminder.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is a wonderful novel - well worth the hype and one which has given me much to think about, even after the final page. It is beautifully written and one which will keep you turning the pages. Don’t miss it.