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Teardrop
As a girl, Jazz Barthelot knew that a gecko falling on your right side foretold a sudden death. But what place do aunties' tales have in the rapidly modernising island of Ceylon, and how to navigate the shifting sands of home?
In 1950s Ceylon, trying to forge her own way while British rule collapses, Jazz begins her new life as a journalist - when a gecko falls on the side of her desk at the newspaper office.
A body is discovered in the state reservoir, and Jazz accompanies seasoned crime reporter Sonny to the Eastern Province. Jazz quickly learns her trade as they travel between spice markets and hopper stalls, interviewing Tamils, expats, and indigenous tribes, following leads that dry up quickly under the hot sun. Pulled between old and new worlds, between languages, and families, Jazz and Sonny must decide if their future remains on the teardrop island, and whether crimes can be left in the past.
In 1950s Ceylon, trying to forge her own way while British rule collapses, Jazz begins her new life as a journalist - when a gecko falls on the side of her desk at the newspaper office.
A body is discovered in the state reservoir, and Jazz accompanies seasoned crime reporter Sonny to the Eastern Province. Jazz quickly learns her trade as they travel between spice markets and hopper stalls, interviewing Tamils, expats, and indigenous tribes, following leads that dry up quickly under the hot sun. Pulled between old and new worlds, between languages, and families, Jazz and Sonny must decide if their future remains on the teardrop island, and whether crimes can be left in the past.
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About the author
Sue Amos
1 book2 followersBorn and bred in North London, Sue previously published two novels under the pen name, Sarah Roux. After winning the Watson, Little x Indie Novella Prize in 2023, her novel, Teardrop was published in September 2024. Sue now resides in Cambridgeshire with her husband, son and dog.
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June 18, 2025
With this novel Sue successfully transports us back to 1950's Ceylon (Sri Lanka), capturing the diversity of the people who inhabit the island, and invoking the smells, sounds and food to create a rich sense of time and place. This love letter to Sri Lanka and it's rich and complex history is told through the story of Jazz, a woman forging her own path in the modern world, balancing traditional values and her cultural inheritance against her professional ambitions and a budding romance with the troubled and mysterious Sonny.
Above all, Sue has given us an intricately researched novel, which informs the reader through subtle exploration of post-colonial society and our colonial legacy, diversity of community, class structure, societal expectations, intergenerational attitudes whilst weaving in aspects of folklore and the beauty of the country and if that isn't enough the intriguingly twisty through line of the body found in the lake will keep you reading.
Above all, Sue has given us an intricately researched novel, which informs the reader through subtle exploration of post-colonial society and our colonial legacy, diversity of community, class structure, societal expectations, intergenerational attitudes whilst weaving in aspects of folklore and the beauty of the country and if that isn't enough the intriguingly twisty through line of the body found in the lake will keep you reading.
Displaying 1 of 1 review