Do You like book The Hamilton Case (2005)?
Where to begin? Changing the cover of this book to the above, did not make this book any more appealing.I read about 225 pages, and was still clueless-the character of Sam was downright condescending and arrogant-along with the handful of annoying and strange characters. Who are these people? what relevance do any of these chapters have to each other??The synopsis has NOTHING to do with the book.Skip it...completely confusing and unlikable. I gave up, and I never give up on a book unless its absolutely awful.
—Michelle
A lot of abuse takes place in this book. Of women by men, children by adults, workers by overseers, the powerful vs the powerless becomes analogous to colonialism. However, the protagonist, a Sri Lankan named Sam, is someone who has done well out of colonial rule; his parents are landowners, he is Oxford educated, but when Ceylon becomes Sri Lanka, he becomes obsolete.The beautiful descriptions and lush atmosphere belie a corrupt society. There are two mysteries central to the plot: who killed the British tea-planter, Hamilton, a case Sam claims to have solved in his capacity as an Agatha Christie reading lawyer, and whether, as a child, Sam killed his baby brother and abused his sister. We never really find out.De Kretser chooses to narrate most of the book in the third person so that she can easily jump from Sam to his wife, his son, his mother, his mother's servant and back again, but it's a pity that she didn't stay with the first person unreliable narrator who tells the early part of the story. Sam thinks he understands, but he doesn't always see the truth, he thinks he's telling us what happended, but he keeps much concealed - he's the perfect chronicler for a book about colonialism.
—Rachel Stevenson
This is not a fast paced mystery book but it's a book that is to be savored. It's lush, layered and reveals itself bit by delicious bit like the jungles of Sri Lanka, the country where the story is set. The story is set in Sri Lanka pre-WWII at a time when the British colonial influence is very strong. The main character is English in all but appearance. He is an upper class Sri Lankan educated in England. He returns to Sri Lanka to practice law and is quite good at it. His involvement in a famous murder, the Hamilton Case, is at the core of the story and transforms him at a time Sri Lanka is undergoing radical transformation from colonialism to self-determination. His delicate sister and their flamboyant beautiful mother are the other main characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It's something you can read more than once for the author just has a way with words. I just love the way she writes. It's gorgeous if you can call writing gorgeous. Her words evoke images that are very powerful. You learn so much about colonialism and its effects, Sri Lanka, life in a hot tropical climate, etc.
—Bookfanatic