 | |
| Author | Shankari Chandran |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Ultimo Press |
Publication date | 2022 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 384 pp. |
| Awards | Miles Franklin Award, 2023 |
| ISBN | 9781761150319 |
| Preceded by | The Barrier |
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (2022) is a novel by Australian writer Shankari Chandran. It was originally published by Ultimo Press in Australia in 2022. [1]
It was the winner of the 2023 Miles Franklin Award. [2]
The Cinnamon Gardens of the title is a nursing home in Sydney, set up in the 1980s by Maya and Zakhir, a Sri Lankan couple who fled their country during the civil war. Now Zakhir is missing, and Maya is a resident of the nursing home which is now run by her daughter Anjali. When a friend of Anjali discovers that Maya and Zakhir once toppled a statue of James Cook which once stood at the nursing home, he lodges a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, accusing the couple of racism.
The novel is told along two timelines: the present day; and in Sri Lanka in the 1980s.
Writing for The Guardian, Zoya Patel noted: "At first glance, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, the latest novel from prolific Australian author Shankari Chandran, may look like a light affair: a tale about a diverse group of elderly Australians living in a family-run nursing home in Sydney. But beyond the twee cover and cozy title, Chandran's novel has serious heft, spanning several timelines and tackling complex topics like race, trauma and the structural inequality engendered in so-called multicultural Australia...Chai Time in Cinnamon Gardens is an enticing, if not entirely realised, opportunity for a wider conversation about Australia, the diversity of its people and the gaps in our collective cultural knowledge. This is a book that requires concentration and full immersion – but it will reward the reader for that investment." [3]
On the AU review website Emily Paull found a lot to like about the book: "At just over 350 pages, the book manages to cover discussions about politics, race, history, relationships and so much more, without ever feeling didactic or forced. This is real life, but it is also good storytelling. I hope that many readers will pick up this novel, and join the conversation that this book begins." [4]
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career (1901). She bequeathed her estate to fund this award. As of 2016, the award is valued at A$60,000.
Sonya Louise Hartnett is an Australian author of fiction for adults, young adults, and children. She has been called "the finest Australian writer of her generation". For her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" Hartnett won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2008, the biggest prize in children's literature.
Alexander McPhee Miller is an Australian novelist. Miller is twice winner of the Miles Franklin Award, in 1993 for The Ancestor Game and in 2003 for Journey to the Stone Country. He won the overall award for the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for The Ancestor Game in 1993. He is twice winner of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for Conditions of Faith in 2001 and for Lovesong in 2011. In recognition of his impressive body of work and in particular for his novel Autumn Laing he was awarded the Melbourne Prize for Literature in 2012.
Steven Carroll is an Australian novelist. He was born in Melbourne, Victoria and studied at La Trobe University. He has taught English at secondary school level, and drama at RMIT. He has been Drama Critic for The Sunday Age newspaper in Melbourne.
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction.
David Neil Ireland was an Australian novelist.
Careful, He Might Hear You is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Sumner Locke Elliott. It was published in 1963 and was the author's first novel.
Dancing on Coral is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Glenda Adams.
Sophie Cunningham is an Australian writer and editor based in Melbourne. She is the current Chair of the Board of the Australian Society of Authors, the national peak body representing Australian authors.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2013.
Foal's Bread is a 2011 novel by Australian author Gillian Mears.
Seven Types of Ambiguity is a 2003 novel by Australian writer Elliot Perlman.
Eyrie (2013) is a novel by Australian author Tim Winton. It was shortlisted for the 2014 Miles Franklin Literary Award.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2001.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2018.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1998.
This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2022.
This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2023.
Bodies of Light (2021) is a novel by Australian writer Jennifer Down.
Shankari Chandran is a British-Australian novelist. She won the 2023 Miles Franklin Award with her third novel, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens.