Srianthi Perera's "A Maiden's Prayer" Enlightens and Delights

'A Maiden's Prayer" by Srianthi Perera is a great readPhoto bySuzy Jacobson Cherry

I purchased A Maiden's Prayer: A Family Story Set in 1970s Sri Lanka by Srianthi Perera from the author in June at the Local Authors Book Fair at the Red Mountain Public Library in Mesa. I couldn't wait to read it, but because of other obligations, it took me a few months to get to it. Once I did, though, I couldn't put it down.

A Maiden's Prayer tells multiple stories in one. This Young Adult novel is the coming-of-age story of the narrator, Tamara de Silva. Tamara is a young Sri Lankan girl who begins her story on the day she "becomes a woman" in middle-class Sinhalese society. The setting is the early days of Sri Lanka's transition from colonial Ceylon to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, making A Maiden’s Prayer the story of how the people struggled in the face of difficulties created by the shift in power.

Most importantly, A Maiden's Prayer is the love story of theI narrator's uncle, for whom the family is intent on making an astrologically-beneficial marriage arrangement. For Berty Uncle, a young man who lives a modern and prosperous life working out of the country, the idea of a traditional arranged marriage guided by Vedic Hindu astrology is incompatible with his freewheeling ways.

A Maiden's Prayer is a thoroughly enjoyable story. Readers unfamiliar with the history of the Sri Lankan culture will be fascinated by the tapestry of ancient traditions and modern sensibilities woven into the time period. A Maiden’s Prayer provides a peek into the lives and perspectives of the Sri Lankan people during a time of political change and economic challenges.

Readers who came of age during the early 1970s and 80s in the United States will discover interesting differences and surprising commonalities with their peers around the world.

There was one thing the narrator and I had in common during that time of the story. We both wore bell bottoms and platform shoes! You can purchase a copy of A Maiden’s Prayer on Amazon.