‘Trojan horse’ novel tackling colonisation and war wins Miles Franklin-by Jason Steger Source:Smh Shankari Chandran has pulled a fast one. Her novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens has the sort of title and cover that suggest readers are in for a gentle read about the funny old residents of an aged-care home. But readers are in for a surprise. Chandran’s third novel, which has won this year’s $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s most significant prize for fiction, addresses racism, the consequences of colonisation, the distortion of history and the traumas of the Sri Lankan civil war head on – all with the help of those funny old residents. Miles Franklin-winning author Shankari Chandran says the problem or beauty of writing is that it’s addictive.CREDIT: “My publisher, Robert Watkins, says it’s a Trojan Horse, because you think you’re picking up a quirky, cute novel about eccentric characters in a nursing home,” Chandran ...
