‘The Amazing Racist’, a novel by Chhimi Tenduf-La

Friday, 23 January 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Hachette India released Chhimi Tenduf-La’s debut novel, ‘The Amazing Racist’, worldwide at the beginning of the New Year. It will be available at all leading bookstores in Sri Lanka by the end of January 2015. Amish Raj Mulmi of Hachette India said, “Chhimi’s book, The Amazing Racist, is a delightful debut that was a pleasure to read and work on: a superbly human story that takes the reader on a journey of ups and downs, peppered with memorable characters and extraordinary moments.

“Set in modern-day Sri Lanka, it tells the story of Eddie Trusted, an Englishman who comes to the island-nation to teach, but ends up falling in love with Menaka. However, as in all relationships, it is the father-in-law Eddie must woo – and so begins Eddie’s tryst with Thilak Rupasinghe, ex-President’s Counsel, and patriarchal terror, culminating in a relationship that beautifully mirrors life’s tragedies and unexpected situations of joy. The Amazing Racist kept me engrossed, and made me connect with the characters, as no other novel has.” Ashok Ferrey calls The Amazing Racist ‘cracker of a debut novel’ that is ‘outrageously funny and deeply moving’. Tenduf-La was signed up by leading literary agent, Kanishka Gupta, in March 2014. Gupta promptly sold the international rights to Tenduf-La’s first two novels to the Indian arms of two of the biggest trade publishers in the world. “Chhimi is an extraordinary talent with a fabulous sense of humour and feel for setting,” Gupta said. “I think it’s just a matter of time before he makes his presence felt internationally.” The youngest son of Elizabeth Moir MBE and the late Kesang Tenduf-La, Chhimi is half Tibetan and half English but has been in Sri Lanka since 1982, except when he was studying at Eton College and Durham University or working for Ernst & Young in London. He said of his writing, “Although I am an avid reader, I am not a particularly intellectual one. What I hope is that my books are accessible to a wide audience. I found it easy to write about a country that I love so much, and hope that anyone who reads The Amazing Racist, voluntarily and not as part of detention at my mother’s school, will enjoy the familiarity of the settings and appreciate my take on the charm of Sri Lanka.” Tenduf-La’s second novel, ‘Panther’, will be published by Harper Collins India in July and is about a former child soldier of a fictional terrorist group gaining a cricket scholarship to an international school in Colombo. Manasi Subramaniam, the book’s editor at Harper Collins India, said of Panther, “It reminds me a lot of the first Junot Diaz book – smart, contemporary prose that’s gorgeous in a postmodern kind of way. This is a darkly humorous book – chilling in parts and endearing throughout.” The Amazing Racist will be available at Barefoot, VijithaYapa, and other leading shops. The ebook is available on all digital platforms.