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A review by shelfadmirer
Beautiful Place by Amanthi Harris
4.0
"Sri Lanka is a mixed-up garden, a hive of buzzing anxiety and passion where dangerous venom lurks, always about to spill over."
A very promising story that takes you to the coastal heaven of Sri Lanka. Padma returns back to her beloved house near the sea after her unsuccessful education in Colombo and with the help of her adoptive father turns it into a profitable business. But Padma has a past that seeks her out every now and then, a past that has a dangerous network of webs, waiting for its next prey.
In 'Beautiful Place', Harris works with both- the rich and violent history of the island and the darker, politically troublesome present. She connects them seamlessly and through characters who are deeply affected by it all. Padma wants to stay as far away as possible from the politics and the filthy locals who would do anything for money. There are these tiny details mentioned throughout the story such as the importance of Race to the locals, the feud between Sinhalese and Tamil folks, the need to present the country as a flawless and perfect society despite the corruption and the extortions. Harris firmly integrates them and gives us an honest and true picture of the life that hides behind the scenic beauty. Her ability to transport the readers to the setting of the book is commendable and at times, gratifying.
Harris also invests a substantial amount of time in building the other characters, some significant and some, not so much but each acting as a vehicle to represent some event (dangerous in most cases) in the bigger scheme of things.
The story gives a lot to the readers but demands a little bit of patience in return. The plot turns predictable too soon, but it is also refreshing to see how each relationship in the story helped form an ending that was painful, yet inescapable.
A very promising story that takes you to the coastal heaven of Sri Lanka. Padma returns back to her beloved house near the sea after her unsuccessful education in Colombo and with the help of her adoptive father turns it into a profitable business. But Padma has a past that seeks her out every now and then, a past that has a dangerous network of webs, waiting for its next prey.
In 'Beautiful Place', Harris works with both- the rich and violent history of the island and the darker, politically troublesome present. She connects them seamlessly and through characters who are deeply affected by it all. Padma wants to stay as far away as possible from the politics and the filthy locals who would do anything for money. There are these tiny details mentioned throughout the story such as the importance of Race to the locals, the feud between Sinhalese and Tamil folks, the need to present the country as a flawless and perfect society despite the corruption and the extortions. Harris firmly integrates them and gives us an honest and true picture of the life that hides behind the scenic beauty. Her ability to transport the readers to the setting of the book is commendable and at times, gratifying.
Harris also invests a substantial amount of time in building the other characters, some significant and some, not so much but each acting as a vehicle to represent some event (dangerous in most cases) in the bigger scheme of things.
The story gives a lot to the readers but demands a little bit of patience in return. The plot turns predictable too soon, but it is also refreshing to see how each relationship in the story helped form an ending that was painful, yet inescapable.