Unfinished Business
A BREATHTAKING THRILLER FROM THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF CHAI TIME AT CINNAMON GARDENS
Sri Lanka, 2009. Decades of civil war and bloodshed are being brought to an end at last – by any means necessary. In the capital, Colombo, tenacious journalist Ameena Fernando is murdered, execution-style, on a busy street near her home, with no witnesses.
With pressure growing to find Ameena’s killers, CIA agent Ellie Harper is sent to seek justice for the journalist’s death with strict instructions: Find something, but not too much. It’s her first time returning to the island after her last mission went tragically awry four years prior, and Ellie has more than one ghost to lay to rest. Amidst the international scheming and jostling for stakes in post-war Sri Lanka, Ellie follows the trail of secrets on a mission to uncover a truth worth killing for.
Safe Haven
It was a beautiful evening. The wind gathered speed, lifting the frangipanis from the grove behind him, pink and yellow petals defying gravity. Beyond the trees, hidden by the foliage and rows of towering palm trees, the detention centre slept fitfully in the heavy summer heat. The palms blocked the ocean gust that now swirled around him, filling his lungs with the taste of temple flowers and salt. It reminded him of home. He took a deep breath, stepped off the escarpment and felt the red sand rush up towards him.
Arriving in Australia seeking asylum, Fina dedicates herself to aiding the refugees who are held in Port Camden, a remote island outpost. Over time she settles into a life within a community of like-minded people, finding a new family, far from her original home. After she speaks out for those being detained, Fina becomes the focus of a media storm that leads to her arrest, and the threat of deportation.
When a security officer dies under suspicious circumstances, Lucky, a special investigator, arrives to uncover the truth. The mystery is tied to Fina’s fate—and the secrets she reveals will divide the town and the nation.
Safe Haven is about displacement and seeking refuge—but ultimately it is a story about finding home—and the lengths you’ll go to find safety and love.
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens
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.
Song of the Sun God
Nala and Rajan, a young couple, begin their married life in 1946, on the eve of Ceylon’s independence from Britain. Arranged in marriage, they learn to love each other and protect their growing family, against the backdrop of increasing ethnic tension.
As the country descends into a bloody civil war, Nala and Rajan must decide which path is best for their family; and live with the consequences of their mistakes.
Over time, Nala and Rajan teach their family why some parts of their history and heritage are worth holding onto; and why some parts and people have to be left behind.
Song of the Sun God spans three continents and three generations of a family that remains dedicated to its homeland, whilst learning to embrace its new home.
Funny at times, warm and tender at others, we see Nala and Rajan’s family navigate war, migration, old loyalties and new beginnings, relying on the philosophy of their religion, their ancestors and each other.
Song of the Sun God is about the wisdom, mistakes and sacrifices of our past that enable us to live more freely in the future. It is about finding home and forgiving family.
Another Australia (Anthology)
Twelve diverse writers reveal another Australia hidden behind, beneath and beside the country we think we know.
by Sweatshop
A suburban psychic’s ominous warning. A conversation in Yuwaalaraay. A glimpse of a shameful, hidden history. A love that moves a mountain. In this unwavering follow-up to After Australia, twelve more boundary-pushing Indigenous writers and writers of colour show us all that is and could exist in our versions of Australia.
Featuring Shankari Chandran, Osman Faruqi, Declan Fry, Amani Haydar, Shirley Le, L-FRESH the LION, Mohammed Massoud Morsi, Omar Musa, Sisonke Msimang, Sara Saleh, Nardi Simpson and Anne Marie Te Whiu.
The Barrier
The Barrier is a fast-paced literary thriller, set in a world destroyed by a virulent strain of Ebola and religious wars. It is 2040 and the surviving nations have been reorganized into the Western and Eastern Alliance. One side subjugates the other, using a vaccine, a virus and religion as its means of control.
Virologist, Dr Noah Williams has been sent by the Department for Biological Integrity in the West, to investigate a rogue scientist in the East. Is the scientist undermining the global vaccination programme? Is he planning another disastrous Ebola epidemic?
Noah finds his scientific, interrogation and diplomacy skills are tested in this complex post-conflict landscape where Western hegemony masquerades as political stability – and religious fundamentalism distracts us from far more insidious forces at play.
Recovering from the death of his young daughter and the breakdown of his marriage, Noah agrees to one last mission for the Western Alliance. It will take him from Chennai to Washington DC to London to Colombo – but also on an inner journey that challenges his faith in the deities of our time: God, country and corporations.
The Barrier explores how the history of our species is the history of war and contagion. It asks: what would happen if both attacked us at the same time? What kind of future would we be left with?
The Barrier was published by Pan Macmillan Australia in June 2017 and was chosen by iBooks as one of its Books of the Month for June 2017.