Review: Milltown

Milltown by Shane Joseph
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Milltown is a story which combines aspects of cultural diversity and a good story to make an engrossing read. There is a subtle undercurrent of racism & prejudice which the book tackles very well.

Sam Selvadurai is a fairly recent immigrant to Canada, escaping violence in his country of birth – Sri Lanka (he is a Tamil while his wife is Sinhalese). He and his family (wife Malani, daughter Sarojini and son Mahesh) settle down in Milltown and open a South Asian restaurant, which they hope will do well. It isn’t easy in the midst of greed, corruption, prejudice and contacts from the past continuing to pursue and harass them.

A powerful lobby calls the shots in Milltown – primarily Mayor Frank Morgan, and Art Hamilton who is the key investor. Art has an interest in getting Sam to move from the place. Sue feels stuck in her job as Frank’s assistant but with a young son Billy who she hopes will go to college and make a good career, she has few options and feels weak against Frank’s advances. Sue looks to Rick Jones, who stood for election against Frank and lost, to help her. Billy and Sam’s daughter Sarojini fall in love, and matters soon get out of control. Events take a violent turn when Art’s troubled son Andy escapes the facility he is in and enters Milltown.

The author’s in depth understanding of Sri Lankan cultural and events allows him to weave an entirely authentic cultural background for the characters. As the story developed, I liked many of the characters – their values and motivation (Sam & his family, Billy and Rick). Sam’s struggle to fit in and succeed - by working hard, being broad minded & respectful of the new culture is very well narrated. An area the book could have done better - there could have been a richer dialogue between the characters exploring the intermingling of different cultural backgrounds even more.
The book alludes to the violence Sam escapes, but prefers to leave a lot unsaid – this was not difficult for me as I have a good understanding of the events in Sri Lanka, but this background might be a little on the shorter side for those who are not aware of this (all of this is public information and easily accessible though).

A book I recommend you read for its good story, strong characters and mature interweaving of different cultural backgrounds.

I received a free eBook from the author for an honest review.


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