Amma

Saraid de Silva’s debut novel Amma unfolds across three generations of Sri Lankan‑Pākehā women, tracing diaspora, trauma and resilience from Singapore to New Zealand and London. The narrative moves gracefully across decades, capturing varied registers of voice and the specifics of immigrant identity. The prose is rich and vivid yet never weighed down by its thematic ambition, recalling Arundhati Roy’s elegance in scope. De Silva foregrounds female solidarity, silences and the long shadows of familial violence. Readers and critics praised its emotional clarity, lush style and deft handling of intergenerational storytelling. The result is a powerful meditation on belonging, survival and reclaiming selfhood. Amma is both heartbreakingly intimate and politically astute.