About the Author

Shankari Chandran was raised in Canberra, Australia. She spent a decade in London, working as a lawyer in the social justice field. She eventually returned home to Australia, where she now lives with her husband and four children. She is the author of Song of the Sun God (2017), The Barrier (2017) and Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, which won the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award.

Reviews

‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is a lyrical, stirring, accomplished exploration of the trauma we carry, the secrets we keep, the histories we harbour, and the family we find. Chandran's characters are so vividly drawn you can sense them sitting across the table long after you've closed the covers. Deftly traversing time, culture and continent to weave a tale of both home and unbelonging, this is truly a novel not to be missed.’
*Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of Foreign Soil and The Hate Race*

‘This is an engaging story that feels both urgent and necessary. It is also a terrific read.’
*The Daily Telegraph*

‘a powerful, compassionate novel about friendship, family, community-building, and the racism faced by members of diasporic communities in this country.’
*The Au Review*

‘this story burns with anger and sings with optimism, sprinkled through with moments of levity and humour.’
*The Canberra Times*

An engrossing, urgent, warm, wise and utterly, utterly beautiful novel.
*Emily Maguire, author of An Isolated Incident and Love Objects*

‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens filled this reviewer’s heart with both hope and rage at witnessing history repeat itself, while somehow preserving optimism about how communities can be rebuilt.’
 
*Books + Publishing*

‘Chandran is an excellent storyteller.’
*The Weekend Australian*

‘Chandran’s novel has serious heft, spanning several timelines and tackling complex topics like race, trauma and the structural inequality engendered in so-called multicultural Australia.’
*The Guardian*

‘Wise and dignified.’
*The Australian Women's Weekly*