This Sri Lankan-born author gained recognition with her debut novel in 1999. Her works often delve into profound human emotions and the complexities of relationships. Roberts is known for her insightful character psychology and compelling narrative style. Her novels invite readers to reflect on the essence of life and love.
Exploring themes of empowerment and rebellion, the narrative challenges societal expectations placed on women. It invites readers to reflect on their lives and consider the possibilities that arise from defying norms. Through provocative questions, it encourages a reimagining of personal potential by embracing rule-breaking as a means to create one's own history and identity.
Priyanthi Silva is born in Sri Lanka into a peaceful, loving Sinhalese family, but into a turbulent country dogged by religious and political tensions. She and her brother Hemantha grow up in Araliya Gardens, a tropical paradise full of orchids and mango trees.
The Buckwater family live side-by-side with their Ceylonese staff in a house nestled in the lush hillside tea estates of '30s Ceylon. Premawathi is their cook and housekeeper. She has two beautiful daughters and a son, Chandi, who even at four-years-old is bright, inventive and more mischievous than his young harried mother can sometimes cope with. As the novel opens Elsie Buckwater, an embittered woman, is giving birth to her third baby. Chandi is enchanted by the idea of making an English friend and he christens her Rose-Lizzie after the flowers he loves. But the discontented Elsie imposes a stifling and unhappy atmosphere on the household and forbids Chandi to go near her baby daughter, whom she herself largely ignores. Eventually however she packs her bags and returns to England. Without her, life at the bungalow flourishes.