{"title":"Books by Shyam Selvadurai","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781529110746","title":"Funny Boy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An extraordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel' Amitav Ghosh\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNOW A MAJOR FILM ON NETFLIX \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the world of his large family - affluent Tamils living in Colombo - Arjie is an oddity, a 'funny boy' who prefers dressing as a girl to playing cricket with his brother.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut as Arjie comes to terms with his own homo-sexuality and with the racism of the society in which he lives, Sri Lanka is plunged into civil war as fighting between the army and the Tamil Tigers gradually begins to encroach on the family's comfortable life. Sporadic acts of violence flare into full scale riots and lead, ultimately, to tragedy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten in clear, simple prose, Shyam Selvadurai's first novel is masterly in its mingling of the personal and political.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NEEL MUKHERJEE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302781464949,"sku":"9781529110746","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529110746_8e29bd72-d9e1-4643-a95f-35ea56fc3e14.jpg?v=1786022537"},{"product_id":"9781774880333","title":"Swimming in the Monsoon Sea","description":"\u003cb\u003eAmrith comes to terms with his sexuality in this sweeping coming-of-age story set against the stormy backdrop of monsoon season in 1980s Sri Lanka. For fans of \u003ci\u003eCall Me By Your Name\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShyam Selvadurai’s brilliant novels, \u003ci\u003eFunny Boy\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCinnamon Gardens\u003c\/i\u003e, have garnered him international acclaim. In his first young adult novel, now with a new cover, he explores first love with clarity, humor and compassion.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons. Fourteen-year-old Amrith is caught up in the life of the cheerful, well-to-do household in which he is being raised by his vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky. He tries not to think of his life “before,” when his doting mother was still alive. Amrith’s holiday plans seem unpromising: he wants to appear in his school’s production of \u003ci\u003eOthello\u003c\/i\u003e and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky’s tropical fish business. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith’s ordered life is storm-tossed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy. \u003ci\u003eOthello\u003c\/i\u003e, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303647818101,"sku":"9781774880333","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781774880333_da17d0a7-5e2b-4cfa-b0cd-ebd1515eeb2d.jpg?v=1786024434"},{"product_id":"9781846592003","title":"The Hungry Ghosts","description":"In Buddhist myth, those that have desired too much in life may be reborn as 'hungry ghosts' - spirits with a stomach so large they can never be full.Six-year-old Shivan is boarded up in his grandmother s mansion in Sri Lanka. While civil unrest brews outside, Shivan is fighting small battles of his own: the matriarch of his mysterious family wants to groom him as heir to her vast and corrupt empire. Shivan stands helpless as she sidelines his mother and sister and evicts vulnerable families from their homes. Unwilling to carry the burden of her expectations, Shivan escapes to the West. Yet ghosts will follow you across continents. As the years pass, and his sexuality gradually comes to light, events spiral out of control and threaten to separate Shivan from his family once and for all.The Hungry Ghosts is an exquisite tale of differences and how they can tear apart both a country and the heart not just once, but many times, until the ghosts are freed.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308315259253,"sku":"9781846592003","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781846592003_6cba06ce-0b72-49d4-b05f-e4be18b27b99.jpg?v=1786029724"},{"product_id":"funny-boy","title":"Funny Boy","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57555332235637,"sku":"9781807849832","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781807849832.jpg?v=1790001099"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-shyam-selvadurai.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}