Random Things Tours: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran

A intergenerational dense story, set between Australia and Sri Lanka, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Australian author and social activist Shankari Chandran, challenges the myth of Australian diversity and cultural consensus. 

Cinnamon Gardens is a nursering home, the project of a couple exiled to Australia escaping the Sri Lankan civil war. But as a status of cpt. Cook is toppled from the ground of the nursing home, the cultural cohesion endeavoured by the founders is broken into tiny shreds, which are further breaking into small poisonous pieces the projections of equality, diversity and tolerance.

The topic is inquisitive but the tone is lyrical, far from being too ideological or shockingly provocative. From the flow of the story, a massive account following a dense timeline, the readers are given the chance to judge by themselves the episodes and draw their own conclusions. 

The plot is very complex and sometimes hard to keep the pace with, delving into important topics for the everyday Australian society balance, such as race inequality and discrimination or trauma. 

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own