Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

By: Shankari Chandran
Narrated by: Rachael Tidd
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.54

Buy for $18.54

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

WINNER OF THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD

Welcome to Cinnamon Gardens, a home for those who are lost and the stories they treasure.

Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney—populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights—a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful recreation schedule.

But this ordinary neighbourhood is not without its prejudices. The serenity of Cinnamon Gardens is threatened by malignant forces more interested in what makes this refuge different rather than embracing the calm companionship that makes this place home to so many. As those who challenge the residents’ existence make their stand against the nursing home with devastating consequences, our characters are forced to reckon with a country divided.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is about family and memory, community and race, but is ultimately a love letter to storytelling and how our stories shape who we are.

‘An engrossing, urgent, warm, wise and utterly, utterly beautiful novel.’ Emily Maguire, bestselling 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

©2021 Shankari Chandran (P)2022 W. F. Howes Ltd & Ultimo Press
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Engaging and thought provoking

The book provides a rich portrait of conflict in Sri Lanka and present day Australia.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing…

This is a superb read. It is sad, interesting, beautiful, funny, and enlightening.

I absolutely loved my read of it, and highly recommend it.

Very well written. Bridging of all history across the world. And confronting and unapologetic of all wars and the means adopted by the aggressors / invaders… it offers understanding and perspective for all who have felt pain of loss and love in all its forms. Amazing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poignant and Powerful

Poignant and powerful - just don’t understand why they didn’t get a native Tamil speaker to narrate.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Modern fiction with heart and mind.

The title suggests a cosy afternoon in a cafe. This story is so not that. It is a wonderful modern story with roots deep in the past. I learned so much about bloody times in Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers and how racism is still alive and well in parts of suburban Sydney. Not for the faint-hearted but a must for lovers of fiction with heart and mind.
Flawless narration from Rachel Tidd.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!