Cinnamon Gardens is set, like its predecessor Funny boy, in and around Colombo, but some fifty years earlier, in 1927, with a British commission about to visit the island to make proposals for self- government. The central characters are members of a prominent Tamil family, living in the eponymous up-market suburb, which takes its name from a former plantation. Balendran is worried by the arrival of the commission, as accompanying it will be his former lover Richard. They lived together for a while in London when they were both young, but Balendran's father, the Mudaliyar Navaratnam, broke up the relationship, threatening to denounce Richard to the police. In the mean time, Balendran has married his cousin Sonia, and they have a son who is studying in England. Balendran remains afraid of his father, and still slips out at night to meet men at a local cruising spot. His niece Annalukshmi, the other main character, is a young woman at odds with her family's plans to marry her off, and heavily influenced by Miss Lawton, headmistress of the school where she teaches. There, one might say, are all the familiar elements from Funny boy: return of old flame, charismatic head-teacher, rebellious, intelligent young woman, family tangles and all the complexities of communitarian politics in the colonial world. However, the style is very different, Selvadurai has clearly moved on, and this is a mature and serious novel. Balendran's homosexuality is important, but it is not in itself the key to what is going on - the novel is really about his relationship with his father, and the way that he eventually breaks out of the blackmail that his father has used ever since discovering the relationship with Richard.

(A review I wrote for a newsletter in 1999 and rediscovered in the archive) ( )

I loved this one. Set in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1928 as the country and its British colonizers are grappling the island's political future, the two principal characters grapple with personal happiness versus family expectations and societal constraints. Annalukshmi is a young woman who has recently earned her teaching certification, much to the horror of her family - working is "common" and will diminish her chances of finding a husband. Her chances are already damaged, as her fathers reversion to Hinduism forced her parents to separate and her mother return with the girls to Ceylon from Malaysia. When Annalukshmi's father writes that he is arranging a marriage for her to her Hindu cousin, her mother and aunt attempt to find a suitable alliance with a Christian instead. Annalukshmi, meanwhile, is not sure she wants to marry, as she loves teaching, though she discovers that her ambitions might be checked by racial considerations and preference.

Annalukshmi's beloved uncle Balendran grapples with his own happiness. As a young student in England, he fell in love with his soulmate Richard, but his father, anonymously tipped off about the nature of their relationship, shows up unexpectedly and ends it in a terrible way. Balendran marries a cousin and is miserable, until over time and with their shared love for their son, he and his wife develop a comfortable love and affection. Balendran does his father's bidding in all things, particularly since his elder brother's expulsion from the family. His father forces a reunion with Richard, who is now working on the commission that will make decisions about the future of British rule in Ceylon. Meeting Richard again forces Balendran to confront his feelings and his acquiescence to the wishes of his father and the strictures of society. The novel gently explores the characters' emotions and decisions against a vivid and evocative backdrop of the Sri Lankan setting. I recommend it highly.

I loved this book. ( )

middle eastern lit