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සියුමැලි
The second novel from the author of 'Mosquito'.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
14 people are currently reading
544 people want to read
About the author
Roma Tearne
13 books94 followersRoma Tearne is a Sri Lankan born artist living and working in Britain. She arrived, with her parents in this country at the age of ten. She trained as a painter, completing her MA at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford. For nearly twenty years her work as a painter, installation artist, and filmmaker has dealt with the traces of history and memory within public and private spaces.
In 1998 the Royal Academy of Arts, London, highlighted one of her paintings, “Watching the Procession,” for its Summer Exhibition. As a result her work became more widely known and was included in the South Asian Arts Festival at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham in 1992
In 1993, Cadogan Contempories, London, began showing her paintings. In 2000, the Arts Council of England funded a touring exhibition of her work. Entitled ‘The House of Small Things’, this exhibition consisted of paintings and photographs based on childhood memories. They were the start of what was to become a preoccupation on issues of loss and migration.
She became Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford in 2002 and it was while working at the Ashmolean, as a response to public interest, that she began to write.
In 2003 she had a solo exhibition, Nel Corpo delle città (In the Body of the City), at the MLAC Gallery in Rome.
In 2006 she was awarded a three-year AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) Fellowship, at Brookes University, Oxford where she worked on the relationship between narrative and memory in museums throughout Europe.
Out of this work came Watermuseum a film set in Venice which was shown at the Coastings exhibition in Nottingham in 2008. In 2008 she received funding from the Arts council of England in order to make a film on memory and migration. This film is due to be premiered in 2010.
Her second novel Bone China was published in April 2008 and her third Brixton Beach will be published in June 2009.
She will be having her first solo exhibition since 2001 at the 198 Gallery, Brixton at the same time.
Roma Tearne is currently a Creative Writing Fellow at Brookes University, Oxford.
In 1998 the Royal Academy of Arts, London, highlighted one of her paintings, “Watching the Procession,” for its Summer Exhibition. As a result her work became more widely known and was included in the South Asian Arts Festival at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham in 1992
In 1993, Cadogan Contempories, London, began showing her paintings. In 2000, the Arts Council of England funded a touring exhibition of her work. Entitled ‘The House of Small Things’, this exhibition consisted of paintings and photographs based on childhood memories. They were the start of what was to become a preoccupation on issues of loss and migration.
She became Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford in 2002 and it was while working at the Ashmolean, as a response to public interest, that she began to write.
In 2003 she had a solo exhibition, Nel Corpo delle città (In the Body of the City), at the MLAC Gallery in Rome.
In 2006 she was awarded a three-year AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) Fellowship, at Brookes University, Oxford where she worked on the relationship between narrative and memory in museums throughout Europe.
Out of this work came Watermuseum a film set in Venice which was shown at the Coastings exhibition in Nottingham in 2008. In 2008 she received funding from the Arts council of England in order to make a film on memory and migration. This film is due to be premiered in 2010.
Her second novel Bone China was published in April 2008 and her third Brixton Beach will be published in June 2009.
She will be having her first solo exhibition since 2001 at the 198 Gallery, Brixton at the same time.
Roma Tearne is currently a Creative Writing Fellow at Brookes University, Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
October 26, 2010
This family saga deals with displacement, set between the multicultural conflicts of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the (very different) multicultural conflicts of London.
Grace is the wife of typical rover Aloysius, her marriage is gradually disintegrating around her and her five kids.
Between a son who dreams of England, a would-be poet, a revolutionary, and a concert pianist, the family is full of its own conflicting drives, which pull it in a multitude of directions, echoing the conflicts in Sri Lanka and the complex negotiations of immigrant life in Britain. With four of her children gone (to London), Grace is left to pick up the pieces of her family.
But of course, life in London isn't the dream the de Silver kids expected, either.
This is a gripping and nuanced portrayal of the trials faced by immigrants, but also of native peoples in a land of increasing ethnic tension. The conflicts in Sri Lanka are parallelled by the displacement and difficulties of assimilation the characters face in a London brimming with its own race-related divisions.
I recommend this book, because it doesn't revel in the anodyne multiculturalism of books like White Teeth and focuses perhaps on a culture you may not have read about before. Another book in a similar vein, although far less serious and looking mainly at life in Sri Lanka *before* an emigration, is Michael Ondaatje's Running in the Family.
Grace is the wife of typical rover Aloysius, her marriage is gradually disintegrating around her and her five kids.
Between a son who dreams of England, a would-be poet, a revolutionary, and a concert pianist, the family is full of its own conflicting drives, which pull it in a multitude of directions, echoing the conflicts in Sri Lanka and the complex negotiations of immigrant life in Britain. With four of her children gone (to London), Grace is left to pick up the pieces of her family.
But of course, life in London isn't the dream the de Silver kids expected, either.
This is a gripping and nuanced portrayal of the trials faced by immigrants, but also of native peoples in a land of increasing ethnic tension. The conflicts in Sri Lanka are parallelled by the displacement and difficulties of assimilation the characters face in a London brimming with its own race-related divisions.
I recommend this book, because it doesn't revel in the anodyne multiculturalism of books like White Teeth and focuses perhaps on a culture you may not have read about before. Another book in a similar vein, although far less serious and looking mainly at life in Sri Lanka *before* an emigration, is Michael Ondaatje's Running in the Family.
September 13, 2015
This is one of my favorite novels EVER. It's a family saga that sweeps generations set in Sri Lanka; the scenery is beautiful, the characters are intriguing and the story will haunt you. The title is a fitting metaphor for the delicate nature of human life-- a must read!!
August 28, 2018
I have never read a book by Roma Tearne that was anything less than excellent and ‘Bone China’ didn’t let me down. After recently reviewing a more historic novel set in Sri Lanka, I passed on a recommendation to a Goodreads friend to try Roma Tearne if she wanted to read great writing about Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans. That friend picked ‘Bone China’ as her first read so I hoiked my copy off the shelf to give it a read (hoping I hadn’t made a bad recommendation). I didn’t love it with quite the intensity I felt for Brixton Beach or Mosquito, but I still found it a very strong novel.
Grace da Silva is the matriarch of this multi-generational family saga. Born to a wealthy tea plantation owner, she married Aloysius, a Tamil despite his Sinhalese surname. Aloysius is a drunk and a gambler and a general liability and was loved from afar by Grace’s cousin Myrtle who bears the family an enormous grudge. At the opening of the book, Aloysius has just gambled away the family home and the da Silvas need to move themselves and their servants to a more humble (but still rather pleasant) house in Columbo where Myrtle will come and live with them.
Grace and Alyosius have five children – three boys who are each completely different from the others and two girls who are also quite individual characters. We follow the family through the end of empire, the departure of the British and the rise of the Sinhalese government and increasing Sinhalese-Tamil conflict and violence which leads four of the five children to leave the country and seek a future in the UK.
Very little is explained about the origins of the racial conflict in Sri Lanka (short story even shorter – most people seem to blame the British!) and at times the whole religious in-fighting can get VERY complicated. Grace’s family are Catholics caught in the middle of a Buddhist-Secularist (though mostly Hindu) war and at times it seems odd that so little is spelt out about the conflict. Realistically though the conflict is only the backdrop – the family are the story. Consequently many are slaughtered in the background, some closer to the family than others. There’s no need to dig into the reasons – just accept they’re living in a mad mad world.
Each of the four departing children ends up initially in London. We see the family pull together and fall apart, support and ignore each other, as each branch of the family tries to put down roots and establish themselves in their new chosen country. Mostly they do quite well – this is not a story that layers on the agonies and misery of starving in a damp flat, shivering and thinking about the old country, it’s one of building a new life a long way from ‘home’ and it’s full of hope and ambition.
Too many multi-character multi-generation novels fall into the trap of trying to provide balance, giving each character their ‘share’ of the action and often making a book much longer than it needs to be. Thankfully ‘Bone China’ doesn’t do that. We get a taste of every character without having each shoved down our throats. In Sri Lanka the action focuses on Grace herself with her family, servants, and wonderful mynah bird as the supporting cast. Once the action moves to London, the universe revolves around Thornton, his wife Savitha and their daughter Meeka.
I found the start a bit slow but came to really enjoy life with the da Silvas. Roma Tearne resists all temptations to layer on too much misery, writing in a matter of fact way that doesn’t waste words on too much wallowing in what might have been. London is always going to be a very alien place but the da Silvas are hell bent on just getting on with getting on. The contrast between the warm, humid paradise gone wrong and the cold, damp place they now need to call home is obvious to all. Tearne also resists the temptation to layer on the racist attitudes and abuse that tend to pepper most 'immigrant experience'-lit.
‘Bone China’ is a lovely book and one that has me eyeing up the other Roma Tearne’s on my bookshelf and trying to decide whether to pace myself of not.
Grace da Silva is the matriarch of this multi-generational family saga. Born to a wealthy tea plantation owner, she married Aloysius, a Tamil despite his Sinhalese surname. Aloysius is a drunk and a gambler and a general liability and was loved from afar by Grace’s cousin Myrtle who bears the family an enormous grudge. At the opening of the book, Aloysius has just gambled away the family home and the da Silvas need to move themselves and their servants to a more humble (but still rather pleasant) house in Columbo where Myrtle will come and live with them.
Grace and Alyosius have five children – three boys who are each completely different from the others and two girls who are also quite individual characters. We follow the family through the end of empire, the departure of the British and the rise of the Sinhalese government and increasing Sinhalese-Tamil conflict and violence which leads four of the five children to leave the country and seek a future in the UK.
Very little is explained about the origins of the racial conflict in Sri Lanka (short story even shorter – most people seem to blame the British!) and at times the whole religious in-fighting can get VERY complicated. Grace’s family are Catholics caught in the middle of a Buddhist-Secularist (though mostly Hindu) war and at times it seems odd that so little is spelt out about the conflict. Realistically though the conflict is only the backdrop – the family are the story. Consequently many are slaughtered in the background, some closer to the family than others. There’s no need to dig into the reasons – just accept they’re living in a mad mad world.
Each of the four departing children ends up initially in London. We see the family pull together and fall apart, support and ignore each other, as each branch of the family tries to put down roots and establish themselves in their new chosen country. Mostly they do quite well – this is not a story that layers on the agonies and misery of starving in a damp flat, shivering and thinking about the old country, it’s one of building a new life a long way from ‘home’ and it’s full of hope and ambition.
Too many multi-character multi-generation novels fall into the trap of trying to provide balance, giving each character their ‘share’ of the action and often making a book much longer than it needs to be. Thankfully ‘Bone China’ doesn’t do that. We get a taste of every character without having each shoved down our throats. In Sri Lanka the action focuses on Grace herself with her family, servants, and wonderful mynah bird as the supporting cast. Once the action moves to London, the universe revolves around Thornton, his wife Savitha and their daughter Meeka.
I found the start a bit slow but came to really enjoy life with the da Silvas. Roma Tearne resists all temptations to layer on too much misery, writing in a matter of fact way that doesn’t waste words on too much wallowing in what might have been. London is always going to be a very alien place but the da Silvas are hell bent on just getting on with getting on. The contrast between the warm, humid paradise gone wrong and the cold, damp place they now need to call home is obvious to all. Tearne also resists the temptation to layer on the racist attitudes and abuse that tend to pepper most 'immigrant experience'-lit.
‘Bone China’ is a lovely book and one that has me eyeing up the other Roma Tearne’s on my bookshelf and trying to decide whether to pace myself of not.
April 13, 2013
subtly written with excellently crafted characters who you want to root for as they move through their lives. i loved seeing how each one grew and changed, sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the better.
politics, love, marriage, tragedy, identity crisis and art entwine the tale of the de Silva clan across a span of 30+ years and two countries.
one special "extra" for me was that the characters are Ceylonese/Sri Lankan - i know very little about that country and enjoyed the insight from the novel's setting.
politics, love, marriage, tragedy, identity crisis and art entwine the tale of the de Silva clan across a span of 30+ years and two countries.
one special "extra" for me was that the characters are Ceylonese/Sri Lankan - i know very little about that country and enjoyed the insight from the novel's setting.
November 11, 2024
I started this book the day after the vulgar orange shadow arose to cause chaos yet again. I expected a historical family saga - which it is. What I didn't expect was to read about death squads, assassinations and a country (Ceylon then Sri Lanka) torn apart.
America has always thought itself as exceptional - death squads happen elsewhere, somewhere more unfortunate. Well, those places didn't think they were unfortunate before they did. And the de Silva's in this book also thought they were touched with Grace (also the name of the mostly main character). Reader, they weren't. The multi-decade saga moves quickly as we learn about the Tamils and Sinhalese and how the British mungled Ceylon just like India and Pakistan. Some of the family escape to London and the second half of the book is concerned with immigrants in a cold climate.
I don't expect death squads to happen here in America. But anybody who has paid any attention to the Proud Boys and their ilk should not be surprised.
America has always thought itself as exceptional - death squads happen elsewhere, somewhere more unfortunate. Well, those places didn't think they were unfortunate before they did. And the de Silva's in this book also thought they were touched with Grace (also the name of the mostly main character). Reader, they weren't. The multi-decade saga moves quickly as we learn about the Tamils and Sinhalese and how the British mungled Ceylon just like India and Pakistan. Some of the family escape to London and the second half of the book is concerned with immigrants in a cold climate.
I don't expect death squads to happen here in America. But anybody who has paid any attention to the Proud Boys and their ilk should not be surprised.
August 5, 2012
The most interesting thing about this book was its setting - post colonial Sri Lanka. I'm not at all familiar with the place or the period, though it felt so close to India, especially South India where I'm from.
That said, the story dragged on quite a bit. The characters seemed lackadaisical and the plot struggled to carry me through. I only finished the book because I was determined to give a foreign author & setting a more-than-fair chance.
That said, the story dragged on quite a bit. The characters seemed lackadaisical and the plot struggled to carry me through. I only finished the book because I was determined to give a foreign author & setting a more-than-fair chance.
December 13, 2025
A family saga sweeping 4 generations. Collective trauma and love.
December 15, 2014
An excellent study of a family. Sadness and humour mixed told with sensitivity. The addition of the mynah bird, Jasper, to the household lightens all their hearts except that of Grace's relative, Myrtle, who had loved Aloysius but been rejected when he chose Grace instead, and she has never got over her jealousy and dislike of her beautiful cousin. Grace's husband is a disappointment to her and his heavy drinking and extravagance a worry. Their marriage is unsatisfactory and Grace in her loneliness seeks and finds a lover, another Tamil like her husband, yet totally different, a true lover in every sense.With him Grace experiences happiness and completeness unknown to her before. But it is short lived and she is devastated when he is killed the night of the Tamil strikers' demonstration when petrol bombs are thrown as the march is ending. Despite his many lacks Aloysius does care deeply for Grace and he is deeply concerned, even frightened, when she goes into a decline after her lover's death. He is unaware what has caused this change in his wife but provides support in so far as he is able, given his weakness for alcohol and lack of stability. Their daughter Alicia is a promising concert pianist and all is lightness and joy when she and Sunil fall in love and plan their wedding. Following it they find they cannot have a child and when tragedy hits the family some years later 'Alicia's pain slices through the de Silva household turning them mute. After the shock came a grief like no other' Alicia becomes a recluse, her great talent wasted as she buries herself in her sorrow. Jacob and Christopher leave for England and Grace's favourite, Thornton, with his charm and popularity marries Savitha and they have an amazingly confident and outgoing child, Meeka, the first grandchild for Grace and Aloysius. With the escalating civil war they too leave for a new life in England and Grace gives Savitha (of whom she has always been fond) her precious bone china collection to take with them; it has been in the de Silva family for years. It is Meeka who best survives the family's migration and makes the most of the opportunities afforded her in the new country but not without pain and heartache for the loss of her identity and her homeland.
June 24, 2015
My first read in ages since having a baby 9 months ago so I went at this book a little more earnestly than your average person. I had read and loved - wait, adored - Brixton Beach, I just don't know why I didn't go back to a Roma Tearne book sooner.
Roma Tearne can write BEAUTIFULLY, her writing is poetic and hauntingly sophisticated; I'm sure she could make 'watching paint dry' read beautifully! I grabbed this book for her, her writing, and I wasn't disappointed.
This book came to me at the right time. So you will take something different from it probably. It's sad, it's emotional, it's bittersweet, it's heartbreaking but not in the run of the mill way, Roma Tearne will draw you in and you will start to make relations and associations. The characters are not loud or exaggerated in the slightest so you will be made to take your TIME to get to know them. This is what this book was about for me- the passage of time, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. Time, like aggressive waves pounding at the cliff, wearing it away, taking away its youthful beauty but in its place leaving a different kind of beauty. At one point I was desperate to finish the book as I wanted to KNOW how things would end....but then I cried at the end because we all wish things away too quickly. At the end of this book I wanted to call my family, including those i haven't seen/spoken to in ages... because time passes to quickly and when it does all you have are bittersweet memories. This book is full of realisations of how vulnerable we are in the hands of time. It made me appreciate that i can reach out now while i 'have' the time.
Roma Tearne can write BEAUTIFULLY, her writing is poetic and hauntingly sophisticated; I'm sure she could make 'watching paint dry' read beautifully! I grabbed this book for her, her writing, and I wasn't disappointed.
This book came to me at the right time. So you will take something different from it probably. It's sad, it's emotional, it's bittersweet, it's heartbreaking but not in the run of the mill way, Roma Tearne will draw you in and you will start to make relations and associations. The characters are not loud or exaggerated in the slightest so you will be made to take your TIME to get to know them. This is what this book was about for me- the passage of time, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. Time, like aggressive waves pounding at the cliff, wearing it away, taking away its youthful beauty but in its place leaving a different kind of beauty. At one point I was desperate to finish the book as I wanted to KNOW how things would end....but then I cried at the end because we all wish things away too quickly. At the end of this book I wanted to call my family, including those i haven't seen/spoken to in ages... because time passes to quickly and when it does all you have are bittersweet memories. This book is full of realisations of how vulnerable we are in the hands of time. It made me appreciate that i can reach out now while i 'have' the time.
December 11, 2009
I'm hesitant on what I should rate this book. At this point, I'd say that it's at a 2.5. It's not a bad book, it just isn't a great book
The book is centralized around the de Silva family, a family from Sri Lanka during the time of civil war. I think it would have helped had I known more about the civil war in Sri Lanka before I had read the book, because the book left me wanting at least a little more on the historical aspect. (I had learned a lot about India in school, but never much on Sri Lanka, or anything for that matter.)
I had actually picked up this book at the library on a whim, thinking that due to the title it would be about China, and didn't read anything about what the book was about. I had actually was hoping for a little more of a mix of historical fiction into the book and a little more development in other areas of the storyline. I felt that the time line in London was pretty well developed, but I would have liked a little more development of the family before they had moved to the second house from the tea plantation.
It had some interesting parts that really had my interest, but at times, I had condsidered dropping it. I am mixed on how I should feel about it.
The book is centralized around the de Silva family, a family from Sri Lanka during the time of civil war. I think it would have helped had I known more about the civil war in Sri Lanka before I had read the book, because the book left me wanting at least a little more on the historical aspect. (I had learned a lot about India in school, but never much on Sri Lanka, or anything for that matter.)
I had actually picked up this book at the library on a whim, thinking that due to the title it would be about China, and didn't read anything about what the book was about. I had actually was hoping for a little more of a mix of historical fiction into the book and a little more development in other areas of the storyline. I felt that the time line in London was pretty well developed, but I would have liked a little more development of the family before they had moved to the second house from the tea plantation.
It had some interesting parts that really had my interest, but at times, I had condsidered dropping it. I am mixed on how I should feel about it.
October 7, 2009
I really liked this. I even loved it at times. As Ann pointed out, it's interesting that the author is a visual artist--the descriptions of Sri Lanka and the family's house in particular are lovely and vivid, and sometimes scary. And I loved a lot of the characters (there were MANY). I don't want to label this a Family Saga, because I feel like that is weighting it down with unnecessary baggage, but it is what it is. It succeeds at being many thing at once: history, family, political, love story. As a good saga should be. A few picky points: I didn't feel like some of the characters' big changes were too believable. They happened awfully quickly. And I really wasn't sure about the social message concerning who Anna Meeka ended up having a relationship with. But I did love Grace. Loved that Grace a lot.
April 5, 2013
A story of an immigrant family fleeing Ceylon - Sri Lanka today. I thought it was going to be more about the genocide between the Tamils and the Sinhalese, however the intrusion of the war, which quietly entered the story from time to time did indeed have an impact on this elite Tamil family. Estranging and displacing family members, wreaking careers and separating family members by thousands of miles. Attempts to adapt to life in England were difficult and never really successful with the older generation and it was sad to see so many dreams shattered.
January 7, 2013
Excellent - one of the best books I've read for a long time.
Strangely enough, I tried to read The Swimmer but couldn't get into it for some reason.
Strangely enough, I tried to read The Swimmer but couldn't get into it for some reason.
June 22, 2023
Read Full & Detailed Review: https://cynthology.blogspot.com/2023/...
An ill-advised marriage with the charming yet unscrupulous Aloysius de Silva, the former estate manager at her father’s factory, is the undoing of Grace, born to wealth and privilege. Now she and her five children, Jacob, Alicia, Thornton, Frieda and Christopher, watch their influence dwindle in a rapidly changing country.
When the British need the palatial de Silva home for the war effort, the family has to move into their second home in Colombo. But life in Sri Lanka becomes increasingly untenable, especially as the country turns in on itself in the wake of Independence.
The life of the de Silva family has so far been one of privilege and affluence but dissent and conflict spare no one.
One by one, the children fly the coop. Alicia, after her wedding, Jacob and Christopher, as they distance themselves from their homeland, and Thornton and his wife, Savitha, and their daughter, Anna-Meeka, as they seek to make a life for themselves in Britain.
Only Grace, Aloysius and Frieda remain, the latter a shadow, as always, devoted to her parents.
The book is written in the past tense omniscient PoV. The story is written in three parts, Secrets, Errors and Beginnings. The plot is rather fluid, spanning the history of the family from the childhood of Grace’s children, to their adulthood, their relationships and their children in turn.
I loved the way the author, born in Sri Lanka and emigrated to Britain with her parents when she was ten, made the setting come alive. The loving way in which she has drawn them, making us care for every member of the de Silva family, likely stems from deep affection for her homeland. The lush descriptions of the weather and the political events that overtake life in Sri Lanka root us in the story.
The book begins on September 1, 1939, when World War II breaks out in Europe. While the war rages on in the far distance, the unrest in Sri Lanka between the Tamils and the Sinhalese is also affecting life’s rhythms. The political becomes personal for the family. Prejudice is rampant.
In many ways, the political strife mirrors Indian history in terms of the injustices wreaked by colonialism.
The author makes us care for this large family, and an ever-increasing cast of characters, each with their own compulsions, often at odds with one another.
So much so that when there is a death in the family, I felt a pang as if the grief were personal to me. In the same spirit, I hurt for the lone De Silva sibling who survived the rest, but lived shuttered from the sunlight. It was just as painful to read about the issues between the siblings and how quietly the family disintegrated.
After the promise of the beginning and the ponderous middle, I was afraid that I was going to be disappointed in the end, but the author brought in a refreshing change of fortunes that ended on just the right note.
Bone China is at once precious and fragile and beautiful. The bequest of bone china from Grace to Savitha for safe keeping and ultimately as an inheritance to Anna-Meeka is an inheritance of beauty, preciousness and fragility.
This was my first novel set in Sri Lanka, and I came away touched by this tale of a land, so much like my own, and yet in some ways so mysterious and foreign.
An ill-advised marriage with the charming yet unscrupulous Aloysius de Silva, the former estate manager at her father’s factory, is the undoing of Grace, born to wealth and privilege. Now she and her five children, Jacob, Alicia, Thornton, Frieda and Christopher, watch their influence dwindle in a rapidly changing country.
When the British need the palatial de Silva home for the war effort, the family has to move into their second home in Colombo. But life in Sri Lanka becomes increasingly untenable, especially as the country turns in on itself in the wake of Independence.
The life of the de Silva family has so far been one of privilege and affluence but dissent and conflict spare no one.
One by one, the children fly the coop. Alicia, after her wedding, Jacob and Christopher, as they distance themselves from their homeland, and Thornton and his wife, Savitha, and their daughter, Anna-Meeka, as they seek to make a life for themselves in Britain.
Only Grace, Aloysius and Frieda remain, the latter a shadow, as always, devoted to her parents.
The book is written in the past tense omniscient PoV. The story is written in three parts, Secrets, Errors and Beginnings. The plot is rather fluid, spanning the history of the family from the childhood of Grace’s children, to their adulthood, their relationships and their children in turn.
I loved the way the author, born in Sri Lanka and emigrated to Britain with her parents when she was ten, made the setting come alive. The loving way in which she has drawn them, making us care for every member of the de Silva family, likely stems from deep affection for her homeland. The lush descriptions of the weather and the political events that overtake life in Sri Lanka root us in the story.
The book begins on September 1, 1939, when World War II breaks out in Europe. While the war rages on in the far distance, the unrest in Sri Lanka between the Tamils and the Sinhalese is also affecting life’s rhythms. The political becomes personal for the family. Prejudice is rampant.
In many ways, the political strife mirrors Indian history in terms of the injustices wreaked by colonialism.
The author makes us care for this large family, and an ever-increasing cast of characters, each with their own compulsions, often at odds with one another.
So much so that when there is a death in the family, I felt a pang as if the grief were personal to me. In the same spirit, I hurt for the lone De Silva sibling who survived the rest, but lived shuttered from the sunlight. It was just as painful to read about the issues between the siblings and how quietly the family disintegrated.
After the promise of the beginning and the ponderous middle, I was afraid that I was going to be disappointed in the end, but the author brought in a refreshing change of fortunes that ended on just the right note.
Bone China is at once precious and fragile and beautiful. The bequest of bone china from Grace to Savitha for safe keeping and ultimately as an inheritance to Anna-Meeka is an inheritance of beauty, preciousness and fragility.
This was my first novel set in Sri Lanka, and I came away touched by this tale of a land, so much like my own, and yet in some ways so mysterious and foreign.
September 3, 2020
'Bone China' is a book that, above everything else, is about finding yourself and developing your own cultural identity. If you were drawn in by the idea of learning more about the civil war and the goings on in Sri Lanka, then this is not looked in to in as in depth a way as may be suggested. Although the a large portion of the sizeable first part of this book is set in the character's native Ceylon (or Sri Lanka) and a good picture is painted of the situation there. The book revolves more around the de Silva family who find themselves losing both wealth and status.
Many of the de Silva children make a journey to England in order to escape the horrors of the country and one by one they plunge in to this life that they see to be full of hope, only to find themselves out of their depth and having to make a new life for themselves all over again. Laced with a disconcerting feeling of never quite being able to fit in or mix with the people of this new country, unfortunately this first generation barely manage to make any mark or really find themselves. All that remains for them of their families glorious past is the delicate bone china they took with them, one of the only things that was not ruined by the dreadful situation back home.
The second generation, led by Anna Meeka who is the main character in the latter parts, has a slightly easier job fitting in. But she tries too hard and we see how it is nearly impossible to move on from your roots, even when still young. Her father's dreams for her are ambitious and the fight between doing what she wants and family loyalty is strong here.
Very sensual, we are given clear visual images by Tearne, and a lot of the landscape and other components of the novel revolve around hearing, and the sounds of both the new and old lives.
"Here was the substance of our sorrows and our joy. Exactly like yours. How we laughed, and how we loved, in the place that was once our home. With its coconut palms, its sun-washed beaches. its ancient tea-covered hills. This land of ours where all our earliest desires are housed, and which, however far we may roam, will remain with us forever." Sums up this book. Beautifully written and described, and tied together all the way along with this thread of cultural identity.
For those who prefer a few well-developed characters you may not enjoy this as, because the family is so large, we never really get to bond with a few members as closely as we may wish to. However, it is a very interesting novel and tells the tale of how both family and culture have such a great impact on our lives.
With pockets of humour provided by the wonderful mynah bird, Jasper, we see the struggles of 4 generations here and how in the end, the past always has an influence on how we turn out.
Many of the de Silva children make a journey to England in order to escape the horrors of the country and one by one they plunge in to this life that they see to be full of hope, only to find themselves out of their depth and having to make a new life for themselves all over again. Laced with a disconcerting feeling of never quite being able to fit in or mix with the people of this new country, unfortunately this first generation barely manage to make any mark or really find themselves. All that remains for them of their families glorious past is the delicate bone china they took with them, one of the only things that was not ruined by the dreadful situation back home.
The second generation, led by Anna Meeka who is the main character in the latter parts, has a slightly easier job fitting in. But she tries too hard and we see how it is nearly impossible to move on from your roots, even when still young. Her father's dreams for her are ambitious and the fight between doing what she wants and family loyalty is strong here.
Very sensual, we are given clear visual images by Tearne, and a lot of the landscape and other components of the novel revolve around hearing, and the sounds of both the new and old lives.
"Here was the substance of our sorrows and our joy. Exactly like yours. How we laughed, and how we loved, in the place that was once our home. With its coconut palms, its sun-washed beaches. its ancient tea-covered hills. This land of ours where all our earliest desires are housed, and which, however far we may roam, will remain with us forever." Sums up this book. Beautifully written and described, and tied together all the way along with this thread of cultural identity.
For those who prefer a few well-developed characters you may not enjoy this as, because the family is so large, we never really get to bond with a few members as closely as we may wish to. However, it is a very interesting novel and tells the tale of how both family and culture have such a great impact on our lives.
With pockets of humour provided by the wonderful mynah bird, Jasper, we see the struggles of 4 generations here and how in the end, the past always has an influence on how we turn out.
May 27, 2020
Bone China
by Roma Tearne
pp. 400
9/26
“Gone were the days when the rich moved upcountry, opening their houses and their tennis courts, while their servants served soft drinks in tall bead-covered jugs... Conversation in public was a dangerous thing, for language had become an identity card.”
“We are nobody, she thought with silent pain... We are displaced people... We belong nowhere, thought Savitha in despair... Suddenly she felt a great longing for the connections they had shed so lightly...”
“... he was beginning to see how odd her family was... full of pride in the things they might have achieved rather than what they actually had...”
This gentle family saga with finely tuned, delicately crafted writing balances the family firmly in the foreground against the pain, loss and fear of the civil war in Sri Lanka in the background. I gained a more nuanced appreciation for the conflict on this beautiful island. The novel traverses the end of an era, with a nostalgia for colonialism tempered with social consciousness and an understanding of the inevitable turn of the wheel of history.
It exquisitely captures the pain of the diaspora: caught in the past, unable to return home. Highly recommended.
#bonechina #romatearne #bookstagram #ilovereading #bookworm #goodreads #bookreview #booklover #reading #iggieslibrary
by Roma Tearne
pp. 400
9/26
“Gone were the days when the rich moved upcountry, opening their houses and their tennis courts, while their servants served soft drinks in tall bead-covered jugs... Conversation in public was a dangerous thing, for language had become an identity card.”
“We are nobody, she thought with silent pain... We are displaced people... We belong nowhere, thought Savitha in despair... Suddenly she felt a great longing for the connections they had shed so lightly...”
“... he was beginning to see how odd her family was... full of pride in the things they might have achieved rather than what they actually had...”
This gentle family saga with finely tuned, delicately crafted writing balances the family firmly in the foreground against the pain, loss and fear of the civil war in Sri Lanka in the background. I gained a more nuanced appreciation for the conflict on this beautiful island. The novel traverses the end of an era, with a nostalgia for colonialism tempered with social consciousness and an understanding of the inevitable turn of the wheel of history.
It exquisitely captures the pain of the diaspora: caught in the past, unable to return home. Highly recommended.
#bonechina #romatearne #bookstagram #ilovereading #bookworm #goodreads #bookreview #booklover #reading #iggieslibrary
August 25, 2019
I found a lot to admire in this novel but didn't find it as strong as either Mosquito or Brixton Beach. Perhaps I'm finding her themes too familiar. Perhaps Roma Tearne has only one story to tell. She is an expatriate Sri Lankan and a painter and she tells stories of families affected by the Sri Lankan civil war civil war there that erupted after the British left. Because I visited Sri Lanka earlier this year, I was pleased to have more insight into the causes of the civil war (that was rekindled and 'settled' - perhaps - in more recent times.)
Tearne's main characters in the novels I've read are creative artists of some kind. In this family saga, both Alicia and her niece Anna-Meeka are musicians. One gives up her career because of personal tragedy; the other has to negotiate her way through the immigrant experience in London. For me, the way Tearne brought the immigrant experience to life was the most effective part of this novel. I was never fully engaged in the sections set in Sri Lanka (feeling that character development was sacrificed to a broader social picture) and the last section of the novel was far too rushed. However, there were many pages where I was beguiled by the language, the imagery and the sensitivity of the writer's understanding of displaced people.
Tearne's main characters in the novels I've read are creative artists of some kind. In this family saga, both Alicia and her niece Anna-Meeka are musicians. One gives up her career because of personal tragedy; the other has to negotiate her way through the immigrant experience in London. For me, the way Tearne brought the immigrant experience to life was the most effective part of this novel. I was never fully engaged in the sections set in Sri Lanka (feeling that character development was sacrificed to a broader social picture) and the last section of the novel was far too rushed. However, there were many pages where I was beguiled by the language, the imagery and the sensitivity of the writer's understanding of displaced people.
November 26, 2019
Story of the De Silva family, three sons and two daughters growing up in a privileged family in Sri Lanka. The father, working for the British, gambles away the family fortunes and they are forced to move to Colombo, still privileged but living in slightly reduced circumstances. A family saga describing the five children making their way in life at the time of the civil war. All three boys come to England to escape the increasing violence in Sri Lanka and it describes their lives as immigrants in the 60s. An array of characters, a sad and moving story with beautiful descriptions of Sri Lanka and the characters lives living in a foreign country, trying to fit in whilst remembering their own country.
An easy read, informative and absorbing.
An easy read, informative and absorbing.
August 7, 2019
I remember buying this book as a 16 year old randomly at a bookstore, and I did not expect it to leave so much of an imprint upon me. Being a Sri Lankan myself, the story felt close to home and Roma Tearne's poetic narration captured my heart truly. Bone China would grasp you in a way that you dont expect it to, you will find yourself rooting for certain characters and Tearne's narrative would make you share their grievances and joys with them. Hands down one of the best books I've read for the 19 years of my existence!
December 17, 2023
While some parts of the book felt too drawn out, the ending felt a tad bit rushed. With that being said, I really enjoyed the descriptive style of writing and found the story to have a “beating heart” to it- both of which kept me quite engaged in the narrative that was being played out.
P.S. it would help to have a little bit of an insight into the Sinhalese-Tamil Civil War before you start reading, because the book kind of assumes you do.
P.S. it would help to have a little bit of an insight into the Sinhalese-Tamil Civil War before you start reading, because the book kind of assumes you do.
July 18, 2018
After Lanka's independence, the de Silva family face political uncertainty being the minority group. While they once lived a privileged life, this declines when violence breaks out. Envisaging a dim future, most of the family immigrate to the U.K. where they struggle to adapt to a new life with no opportunity to return to their island nation as conditions worsen for Tamils.
January 18, 2019
I enjoyed this book so much that I hardly put it down and stayed up late to finish it. I cared about the characters and what happened to them. and I thought their disappointment that their dreams and ambitions didn't work out was realistic and poignant. My only criticism of the book would be the ending, which I thought was too sweet and jarred with the rest of the book.
January 19, 2020
I cried, I smiled, I loved this. I felt the pull of returning to Sri Lanka where my mother was born, the importance of loving ans appreciating your family and loved ones. Looking forward to reading Mosquito.
June 25, 2021
This is the first book I have read by this author and I look forward to learning reading some of her other books.
I really enjoyed her writing style, but unfortunately the story lacked substance at times. I really wish I would have been given more about each of the family members.
I really enjoyed her writing style, but unfortunately the story lacked substance at times. I really wish I would have been given more about each of the family members.
July 6, 2021
Lyrical stunning family saga set in Sri Lanka before and after independence and evoking disillusion and hope and longing and just in gentle narrative drawing you closer and closer to the most wonderful family and their losses and redemption. I loved it. So glad I've got others by her as yet unread
July 8, 2017
This was a broad sweeping epic. Family life, struggles, infidelities, secrets, life, love, drama, heartbreak, joy. Nicely written and well paced.
April 22, 2018
Touching. The family saga in the story is indeed bone china.
June 18, 2019
Beautifully-written family epic, with magnificent descriptions of Sri Lanka's natural beauty. The epilogue, Beginnings, is unnecessary but moving all the same.
September 19, 2019
Interesting book, touched on lots of folklore.
Some great characters and descriptions but I felt the end was too rushed - it could have gone on for at least one more chapter
Some great characters and descriptions but I felt the end was too rushed - it could have gone on for at least one more chapter
October 29, 2021
I’ve really tried hard but it’s not my books. I bought it to make me think out of the box but it wasn’t interesting for me.
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