Bone China

Sri Lankan-born artist-writer Roma Tearne, who left her native country when she was ten, revisits the years leading up to the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983 - 2009) and its effects on families in her second novel, Bone China. In this novel, she is more interested in family issues than in politics, focusing on the lives of a Tamil Catholic family as it faces the inevitabilities of violence and warfare on their small island nation. Opening in 1939, the novel recreates the British raj in the era leading up to World War II, when Aloysius de Silva, his wife Grace, and their five children owned and lived on a large plantation, favorites of their British administrators. When the British decide to leave Ceylon, however, the family moves to their "other house" near the sea in Colombo. Here they and their children come to symbolize the various movements competing for attention in the small island country in the years immediately after World War II, movements which eventually result in violence. Though the de Silvas are Tamil, with Sinhalese ties, it quickly becomes obvious to them that "There is something wrong with a country that will not unite." For some family members, escape to England offers their only hope, while matriarch Grace, in Colombo, tries to keep the remaining family safe in Sri Lanka. Tearne creates a vibrant family saga involving all these characters, and though they tend to be somewhat stylized in personality and somewhat predictable in their behavior, she succeeds in keeping the action moving and the picture of life in Sri Lanka developing, even as the violence is taking its course and irrevocably changing the face of the country. Not surprisingly, the characters who have gone to England discover in Part II that their dreams have been unrealistic. Only a child, who has spent most of her life in England, is able to make a comfortable transition between the old life in Sri Lanka and her new life in England. Tearne's beautiful and often lyrical descriptions of the natural world provide a brilliant contrast with the hostile human world, and in having the action span more than fifty years, she creates a broad panorama of history within the de Silva family. Often relying on portents, foreshadowing, and coincidence to resolve issues and keep the action moving, she creates passionate love stories which keep the reader involved. New lovers also broaden the scope, however romantic (and occasionally unrealistic) some of these plot twists may be. Tearne handles the needs of her large cast of characters and her extended time frame effectively, however, and ultimately, the reader recognizes that the characters' lives resemble the bone china teacups that matriarch Grace has passed down through the family--fragile, but glowing, when held up to the light. n Mary Whipple Mosquito

The de Silvas are a once well-to-do Tamil family in Ceylon. Their financial downturn has been largely the fault of Aloysius, the head of the family, whose gambling addiction has seen his wife's wealth lost at the poker table. Roma Tearne's novel opens with Aloysius offering yet more excuses to his wife, Grace, after his latest disastrous hand of cards has cost them their house. Their children are recalled from their schools, the fees having not been paid. It is September 1939. Grace tells her children that, with the war coming, they are moving to their smaller house in Colombo because the British military will require the one they currently occupy. Thereafter, the novel follows the fortunes of the de Silva family, mainly focusing on one of the sons, the gregarious, impetuous Thornton who dreams of being a poet. His siblings are all more serious-minded. With political upheaval and relentless violence surrounding them, Thornton, now married with a child, emigrates to England. The book's title refers to Grace's collection of bone china, some of which accompanies Thornton and his family to their new home. Roma Tearne's novel is a joy to read. The characters are beautifully drawn, the dialogue is crisp and laced with humor, but the descriptive prose is utterly gorgeous. You really smell the smells of the spices being cooked, you feel the relentless, steaming Sri Lankan heat, and the overwhelming sense of loss and displacement when Thornton and his family arrive in the unfamiliar cold of London. Much of this section is seen through the eyes of Thornton's daughter, Anna-Meeka, who is sharply aware of the cultural differences between her family and those of the children that she now goes to school with. Above all, she wants to fit in. There's a wonderfully funny passage where the youngster decides to invite her schoolmates to her birthday party. She arranges it for a time when her parents will be out. She prepares the food, scrimping on, or missing out completely, key ingredients for some of her exotic dishes. And she decides to use some of the family's beloved bone china to serve them to her guests . . . Other family members' stories are interwoven throughout as we follow their lives in this engrossing saga. This is one of those novels that is so captivating that you don't want it to end. It's true that there's not much here that will elaborate on the violent upheaval that Ceylon/Sri Lanka experienced: we are told that these horrifying events are happening, but there's not much about why they are happening. `Bone China' concentrates more on its characters' lives and the effects that those events have on them. Ultimately, the joys and woes of familial connections form the heart of this story.