Debut
This is a sparkling debut. The main character, Siriwathi Perera, is a New York City cab driver in the age of Uber and Lyft. It’s a tough job but she works the late shift to keep her family afloat. As she’s cruising by night court late one night, she spots two possible fares: a white, male lawyer and a woman who looks more like herself, obviously on her way home. She picks up the woman and the two of them bond as they discover they are both Sri Lankan. The woman, Amaya, is a public defender, and the quick bond the two women form is enough that Amaya presses her business card in Siri’s hand before she gets out of the cab. Little does Siri know how much she will need it.
Her next fare is a scraggly looking gentleman who wants to go to JFK, departing for Paris. Before he gets in the cab, Siti had noticed him carrying a long case with holes in it. She’s puzzled by the case but readily accepts a fare that provides a quiet customer who doesn’t bother her – the man quickly falls asleep. When they get to the airport, however, Siri can’t wake him, and when she opens the door of her cab, she sees the man has been stabbed in the chest – and he’s dead.
All Siri can think to do is call Amaya, who appears but informs her she will surely be arrested, and this is in fact the case. The humiliations accompanying arrest and jail are described in detail, and by the time Siri is released, her exhausted and worried parents looking on, you’ll be fully on her side. As she’s the heroine of the novel I never thought she was guilty, and first time author Gunasekera has deftly introduced what is basically a locked room mystery, 21st century style.
The women have a very short time before a grand jury assembles to decide Siri’s fate, and Siri finds herself functioning as Amaya’s defacto investigator. Though she’s told each and every time not to speak, she of course does, and the investigation that follows is a very traditional one. It’s very well done with each plot element growing organically out of the one before. This was the kind of book where I got halfway through and wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
As the story progresses, the author teases out Siri’s somewhat tragic backstory but also finds the bonding of the two women and the ultimate gathering over food, at a Sri Lankan feast prepared by Siri’s mother. Both women are incredibly appealing characters, and I also loved the look at New York and the essential nature of the service workers who make the city function. I loved the story and was feverishly turning pages to find out just what happens to Siri and Amaya.
This book is hard to categorize. The details of the nonfunctioning and somewhat horrific justice system as well as the details of Siri’s home life aren’t cozy; but the investigative three-some that ultimately forms – bound by the cozy elements of culture and food – are more cozy, and the resolution, which could have been dark and traumatic, goes another, softer, way. Both plot and character are strong here and I very much hope there will be another book featuring Siri and Amaya. — Robin Agnew