Cinnamon GardensLush And Beautiful, Cinnamon Gardens Is A Story Of Intertwined Lives In The Gracious World Of Ceylon In The 1920S In A Novel Of Exceptional Achievement, Shyam Selvadurai Evokes The Life Of The Upper Classes Of Colombo'S Wealthy Suburb, Cinnamon Gardens, At A Time When The Power Of Colonial Rule In The Country Is Shifting. It Tells The Story Of Annalukshmi, A Young Schoolteacher, Who Finds Herself Caught Between Her Family'S Pressures To Marry And Her Own Desire For A More Independent Life; A Life She Sees Reflected In Her Mentor, Miss Lawton, A Progressive Headmistress. She Comes To Realize That This Life Is Fraught With Complexities And Danger And With Rules That Cannot Be Broken. There Is Also Balendran, The Obedient Son Of A Domineering Patriarch, Whose Story Is Brilliantly Counterpointed With That Of His Niece Annalukshmi'S. He Leads A Comfortable Existence With His Wife Sonia Till He Learns That Richard Howland Is To Arrive In Colombo. This Uneasy Reunion With A Lover From The Past Throws Balendran Into Turmoil And Re-Ignites Tensions With His Father. As The Narrative Unfolds And Deepens A Varied Cast Of Characters Emerge, Including Louisa, Annalukshmi'S Mother Who, In The Face Of A Failed Marriage, Struggles To Raise Her Daughters Alone; Arul, Balendran'S Exiled Brother; And The Delightfully High-Strung And Meddlesome Philomena Barnett. Selvadurai'S Sensual Descriptions And Keen Insights Take Us Behind The Fragrant Gardens And Polished Surfaces To Reveal A World Of Splintered Families, Conflicted Passions And Lives Destroyed By Class Hatred. With This Novel, The Author Confirms His Earlier Promise As One Of Sri Lanka'S Most Distinctive And Talented New Voices. |
Contents
Section 1 | 15 |
Section 2 | 41 |
Section 3 | 44 |
Section 4 | 53 |
Section 5 | 61 |
Section 6 | 80 |
Section 7 | 90 |
Section 8 | 96 |
Section 16 | 242 |
Section 17 | 256 |
Section 18 | 290 |
Section 19 | 323 |
Section 20 | 335 |
Section 21 | 339 |
Section 22 | 368 |
Section 23 | 371 |
Section 9 | 140 |
Section 10 | 155 |
Section 11 | 185 |
Section 12 | 189 |
Section 13 | 196 |
Section 14 | 221 |
Section 15 | 230 |
Section 24 | 380 |
Section 25 | 381 |
Section 26 | 386 |
Section 27 | 387 |
Section 28 | |
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Common terms and phrases
akka Alli Alliston Amma Annalukshmi looked Appa arrived Arul Arul's asked aunt Bala Balendran felt Balendran looked Balendran saw Balendran stared began bicycle Brighton brother Ceylon Ceylon National Congress Ceylonese chair Chandran Macintosh Cinnamon Gardens Colombo cousin cried daughter desk Donoughmore Commission door drawing room eyes father feel front Galle Face Hotel girls glanced Govind hand headmistress heard husband Jaffna Jayaweera knew Kumudini Letchumi Lotus Cottage Louisa Lukshman Macintosh boy Malaya Manohari marriage married meeting Miss Adamson Miss Lawton morning mother Mudaliyar Muttiah Nalamma Nanu Oya nephew Nesiah never nodded Pakkiam Parvathy Pillai quickly replied Richard rickshaw sari seated Seelan shook her head silent Sinhalese sister smiled Sriyani steps stood stopped talk Tamil tell thing thought Tirukkural told took turned verandah voice waiting walked wife woman women