(Set in 1930s’ Ceylon amid tea plantations, decay, corruption and the backwash of empire, this gripping novel by the author of The Rose Grower, confirms her as a writer of real talent and originality.

Sam Obeysekere -- “obey” by name and by nature -- is a Ceylonese lawyer, a perfect product of empire. His family once had wealth and influence but starts to crack open as political change comes to the island, and Sam’s glamorous father dies leaving gambling debts. But the Obeysekeres’ troubles reach back into the past, when a baby was found dead in his cot. And at the heart of the novel is the Hamilton Case, a murder scandal that shakes the upper echelons of island society. Sam’s involvement in it makes his name but sets his life on course for disappointment.

Full of irresistible characters -- Sam himself, a triumph of ambivalence, resentment and pathos; his beautiful, unstable sister; his flamboyant mother Maud -- this is a sinuous, constantly surprising tale. It paints a haunting picture of the end of an era, suffused with “the unbearable thought that everything might have been different.”

Recommended to book clubs by 0 of 0 members.