Perhaps.
They got into the car, Anne in front with her father and Rose-Lizzie behind. Alone. She looked out through the rear windscreen, her nose flat against the glass, trying to see through the rain. She looked like a child.
The car started and pulled away. He stepped out into the center of the driveway and watched it go to England without him. With his dreams. And his best friend.
In the veranda, Premawathi slumped against the hat stand. Thank God for Deniyaya, she thought tiredly. Chandi would adjust.
Inside the house, Appuhamy’s ghost waited for its next master.
Karen Roberts
The Flower Boy
Karen Roberts is a native of Sri Lanka who was born and brought up in Colombo, its capital. She currently lives in California. This is her first book.
FIRST VINTAGE INTERNATIONAL EDITION, DECEMBER 2001
Copyright © 1999 by Karen Roberts
Vintage is a registered trademark and Vintage International and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
While set in real places, this book is a work of fiction. The characters and events are products of the author’s imagination and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual people is unintended. In the few instances where well-known names are used, the related characters, incidents, and dialogue are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict any actual people or events.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the Random House edition as follows:
Roberts, Karen (Karen Marisa Judith)
The flower boy: a novel / Karen Roberts.
p. cm.
1. Plantation life—Sri Lanka—Fiction.
2. Tea plantation workers—Sri Lanka—Fiction.
3. Friendship—Sri Lanka—Fiction. 4. Children—Sri Lanka—Fiction.
5. British—Sri Lanka—Fiction. 6. Sri Lanka—Fiction. I. Title.
PR9440.9.R64 F58 2000
823—dc21 99-54470
www.vintagebooks.com
www.randomhouse.com
eISBN: 978-0-307-42863-9
v3.0
The Flower Boy Page 38
