‘For so long she had told herself it was too much, unsure how to bridge the time and distance between them. She had feared that reaching for her sisters might shatter the lives they had built without her, that perhaps she was not worthy of them any longer.’
Three sisters – Janu, the eldest; Samar, the middle; and Maryam, the youngest – begin their journey together on a boat in 1990, making the dangerous trip from war-torn Sri Lanka to the promise of a free and safe Australia. However, at the journey’s end, they are separated, lost to each other, and their lives unfold in very different ways. Each sister takes her own path, yet there is always something missing.
Decades later, the eldest, Janu, sets out to find her lost sisters and bring them back together. But will they find one another – and can it ever truly be as if they had never been apart?
This book is extraordinary. The scene setting is beautiful, lyrical and heartwarming. There are some themes of coercive control and child abuse but the strong bond of sibling relationships remains throughout and simply filled my heart with joy. I was deeply moved by the humanity of others and their life-changing decision which reverberated throughout their lives. The dilemma as to whether they had made the correct decisions and living with regret and guilt and the ‘what ifs’.
Sisters of Serendib is such a fascinating and must-read book. My favourite read of the year.
Reviewed by Claire Stanley
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHORAyesha Inoon is a Sri Lankan-Australian writer whose work is shaped by her rich cultural heritage and lived experience. Born in Colombo, she travelled widely and worked as a journalist in Sri Lanka before migrating to Australia in 2013. Her writing explores themes of identity, belonging, and the resilience of women across cultures.
Her debut novel, Untethered – winner of the 2022 ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize and Highly Commended in both the 2024 ACT Book of the Year and the ACT Literary Awards for Fiction – draws partly from her own journey as an immigrant Muslim woman.
She lives in Canberra, on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country with her two children.
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