Why a Booktrail?
1930s: A story of scandal set amongst the tea plantations and the corruption of empire
The Hamilton Case
What you need to know before your trail
1930s Ceylon is a time of corruption and a world in the edge of chaos. Sam Obeysekere is a perfect a Ceylonese lawyer and a perfect product of empire. His family were once rich and fairly influential but all of this changes as the waves of political change gradually inundate the island.
At the heart of the novel is the Hamilton case, a murder scandal that shakes the upper levels of society, a scandal which is about to engulf Sam in many different ways.
The Hamilton case concerns the murder of a white farmer and on an island being torn apart on issues of race and religion, this could have far reaching consequences.
Travel Guide
Ceylon
The story of a decaying Ceylon is seen through the eyes of a native Sri Lankan who grows up during the British occupation. Sam Obeyskere is a product of the British Empire who discovers that he is ‘too British to be native and too native to be British’.
Through Sam’s eyes,a picture forms of a country full of social pettiness, poverty and wealth depending on who you know, the idea of justice and the remnants of the British. A great deal of self deception is needed to live in this time and place and colonialism is a veil through which things look very differently indeed.
This is a country with a definite social structure – of the British at the top, followed by the Sinhalese and then the Tamil. Levels of structure and obedience and a sense of before and after the British arrived and the civil war destroyed the island
Plantations
The British acquired acres of primeval forest that were sold for plantations. The local elite followed suit, clearing land for coffee and tea and rubber and coconut with so much zeal that the government was eventually forced to consider measures for preserving the jungle …
A novel in three parts with three different ‘voices’ Tension within his won family as well as tensions in his own country. With world events such as WW2 and the partition of India, the world outside this pot of intrigue, this murder case takes centre stage. What led to it and how its aftermath can be dealt with –
”History, like any other verdict, is not a matter of fact but a point of view.”
Streetview Maps
B) Royal Botanic Gardens
C) Galle Road
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information:
Destination: Sri Lanka Departure Time: 1930s The Hamilton Case
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
