Tamarind Sky

By Thelma Wheatley

When British immigrant Selena Jones marries Aidan Gilmor, a Sinhalese-Eurasian — part British — from Sri Lanka in the 1960s in Toronto, a passionate clash of culture ensues. Selena’s mother in Wales is horrified when Selena brings Aidan home to Wales for the wedding. Back in Toronto, Selena faces further prejudice and disapproval of her “mixed marriage,” despite Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s new “multiculturalism,” which was being encouraged but also resented. She is shocked not only by the reaction of neighbours but by the teachers at the all-White school in Toronto where she teaches, and she pretends that Aidan is a White Canadian. When two poor West Indian and two East Indian children from a new government housing project nearby unexpectedly arrive at the school, Selena is forced to take a stand in their defence. Gradually she learns to face her fears and confront racism. She is drawn into a deeper understanding of her Sri Lankan family, and especially of her father-in-law, a former tea planter under the British, who left Ceylon after Independence in 1956. She sees the effect of colonialism on Aidan and his family, trying to be “British” while caught i

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inanna Poetry and Fiction Series
• Release date: Oct 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781771337366

Thelma Wheatley

Thelma Wheatley is the author of My Sad Is All Gone: A Family’s Triumph Over Violent Autism (2004), a book about raising her autistic child. Her award-winning short fiction has been published in a number of literary journals across Canada. Past president of Autism Society Ontario, Peel Region, Wheatley continues to be in demand as a speaker on violence and autism. She is on the Board of the Friends of the Archives, Museum of Mental Health, camh, and is currently editor of the Friends of the Archives Newsletter.

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