Questa autrice nata nello Sri Lanka ha ottenuto il riconoscimento con il suo romanzo d'esordio nel 1999. Le sue opere spesso approfondiscono profonde emozioni umane e le complessità delle relazioni. Roberts è nota per la sua perspicace psicologia dei personaggi e il suo avvincente stile narrativo. I suoi romanzi invitano i lettori a riflettere sull'essenza della vita e dell'amore.
Priyanthi Silva is born in Sri Lanka into a peaceful, loving Sinhalese family, but into a turbulent country dogged by religious and political tensions. She and her brother Hemantha grow up in Araliya Gardens, a tropical paradise full of orchids and mango trees.
The Buckwater family live side-by-side with their Ceylonese staff in a house nestled in the lush hillside tea estates of '30s Ceylon. Premawathi is their cook and housekeeper. She has two beautiful daughters and a son, Chandi, who even at four-years-old is bright, inventive and more mischievous than his young harried mother can sometimes cope with. As the novel opens Elsie Buckwater, an embittered woman, is giving birth to her third baby. Chandi is enchanted by the idea of making an English friend and he christens her Rose-Lizzie after the flowers he loves. But the discontented Elsie imposes a stifling and unhappy atmosphere on the household and forbids Chandi to go near her baby daughter, whom she herself largely ignores. Eventually however she packs her bags and returns to England. Without her, life at the bungalow flourishes.
Exploring themes of empowerment and rebellion, the narrative challenges societal expectations placed on women. It invites readers to reflect on their lives and consider the possibilities that arise from defying norms. Through provocative questions, it encourages a reimagining of personal potential by embracing rule-breaking as a means to create one's own history and identity.