Wednesday 25 September 2024 and all booksclubbers except Julie gathered at McLassie and Rosie's place for our fire and chai chat. It took us a while to settle down around the fire and when Rosie had found her place, McLassie led us off with her selection, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandra. It was not long after the author had appeared on ABC Compass talking about her 2023 Miles Franklin award winning book, explaining where its narrative about justice and dispossession had come from.
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| Shankari Chandran |
Cherrie also referred to Shankari's interview with Richard Fidler, where she talked about being an Australian lawyer based in London for 10 years. During that time she achieved no mean feat by incorporating social justice as a principle for the international law firm she worked with.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/conversations-shankari-chandran/8747086
Chai Time is her third book and revolves around the residents of the Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home and their stories. With story lines in both Australia and Sri Lanka, the book stands racism firmly on its dark pedestal giving it a good whack - which in turn gives the book a good deal of heft. We discussed the many characters Shankari introduced us to, some of whom were complex and not so easy to understand; and talked about Shankari's blunt way of introducing some of her characters (eg Ruben). The anti-colonial sentiment of Anjali's parents that brought about the downfall of Captain Cook's statue some time ago was tossed around too. This action set off a series of events that raised past trauma for the residents - and was precipitated by the action of the local Councillor who lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission. (Hmm - is there a hidden message here about power, men and local government?)
Some thought that there was too much going on the in the book, with the many characters, their backstories, the different timespans, and the storyline about Cinnamon Gardens and the Council - and all this made it difficult to keep track of everything. But the kindness seeped through rescuing some of the many and varied narratives, and our readers generally agreed it was a good choice. Thanks McLassie.
McLassie handed the platform over to Marg for our next book, The Book of Fire, by Christy Lefteri. Christy is a favoured author for Marg (and the group) as Marg has previously chosen her two earlier books (The Beekeeper of Aleppo and Songbirds). Here is a short interview with Christy introducing The Book of Fire - there are much longer ones on Youtube if you feel like settling in:
We didn't take long to plunge into the sea with Irini and her daughter Chara, and spent many chapters with the Mother, daughter and fabulous dog, Rosalie paddling on the raft reflecting on the big theme of the book - the effects of climate change and who is to blame. We also spent a lot of time on the night discussing the end of Mr Monk - was it suicide, was he assisted in his suicide, or was it a straight out stringing up by the villagers? All three options got a guensey with various readers favouring different interpretations - so the jury is still out on this one. After questioning Tasso's response to the fire, we talked our way around to agreeing in the end that Tasso too should be acknowledged because of the grief and trauma he went through. Which then brought us to the kindness of the strangers who looked after Irini and Chara in the days immediately after the fire - leaving us with some respite from the unresolved questions posed by the book. But resolution or not, Irini's strength and Chara's resilience shone through suggesting they were the heroines of the book. Another great Lefteri read, all agreed.
We made our way homewards around 9.00 pm thinking about the next meeting which is currently scheduled for Wednesday 13 November 2024 - venue Fox Street unless its changed to Hindmarsh Valley and moved to lunchtime on Friday 22 November 2024. Yes it's up for voting. Books are:
- Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (Sue)
- Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (Julie)
.....and then there was the Teacher
on Tuesday 1 October. Kathy and Peter, Mog and Jeremy, Julie and Chris, Megan and Andrew, McLassie and moi saw 'The Teacher who promised the sea' at Palace Nova, followed by dinner at Lemongrass.
