Unfinished Business by Shankari Chandran
Shankari Chandran first came to my knowledge when she won the 2023 Mile Franklin Literary Award with her novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens. While that novel remains on my wish list, I picked up Unfinished Business because I will be seeing her speak about this book at the SWF (with Ian Rankin).
The book itself is a political thriller set against the backdrop of Sri Lanka's civil war. The novel opens in 2009 with the assassination of Ameena Fernando, a prominent journalist known for her fearless reporting. In response, the CIA dispatches agent Ellie Harper to investigate, but with instructions only to do the bare minimum of an investigation so that the US can look as though it is contributing - without actually contributing in any meaningful way.
The narrative moves back and forth between 2005 and 2009. In 2005, Ellie was part of a failed mission to Sri Lanka that haunts her, along with her failed relationship with Sathyan - who it turns out was Ameena fiancé at the time of her assassination. This was a bit of a convenient coincidence for my liking, and I think put me off a little from the story from the very beginning.
Driven in part by her desire to make up the past, Ellie dives into the investigation in earnest and uncovers a web of espionage and foreign intervention in other nations. Chandran is making a point of drawing attention a wide range of social, political and human rights issues. The persecution of the Tamil population. Political corruption. Perhaps most importantly the ongoing neo-colonial benevolence where foreign intervention is dressed up as benevolent assistance of the 'we know better' variety but ultimately serves the interests of the intervening country.
While I wanted to really enjoy this novel and I don't want to understate how important the themes of the novel undoubtedly are, they often took precedence over character development and plot, making the story feel more like a vehicle for commentary than the immersive narrative experience I prefer.
Posts
.webp)
Hmm, Sri Lanka seems to be coming up lately after my never having read a single book about it before. However, the bit about issues before character development and plot doesn't sound enticing. I might try Chai Time instead.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the book, don't get me wrong. But I don't have strong feelings about it. I will also try Chai Time. I'm hoping after seeing Chandran speak about the book next week that I will appreciate it more
DeleteThat will be interesting!
Delete"a vehicle for commentary than the immersive narrative experience I prefer" That's exactly why I DNF'd Chai Time. She said she wrote it because she thinks Australians don't know enough about the Sri Lankan Civil and it reads as if she is lecturing us about it.
ReplyDeleteAs it happens I know plenty about the Sri Lankan civil war by reading much better books than hers, e.g. The Story of a Brief Marriage (2016), by Anuk Arudpragasam as well as from meeting Sri Lankans, but still, I think it's an unreasonable expectation that Australians should know the back history of all the nations from which migrants come. When I got my first ESL students from Afghanistan (under the Taliban but before 9/11) I didn't even know where it was on a map or anything else about it but I found out fast and that's what counts. Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers