The Tearoom by Gretchen Haley, published in September this year by Penguin Random House, is simply delightful. Sprinkled with humour and boasting a colourful cast, this is a local tale set in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal, and more specifically, in Tubby Reddy’s lively kitchen.
His kitchen is also where Tubby comes to realise that time is deceptive; that the past is happening right now, the present almost does not exist, and the future is constantly changing.
Tubby – real name: Thirapatheegadu Ezekiel Reddy – is the proud proprietor of the successful and highly popular The Tearoom in the KwaZulu-Natal village of Usendleni, and is renowned for his delicious Indian cuisine. He is also a father with a treasured dream and long-suffering husband to hypochondriac Lynette. In his journal, Tubby devises a plan for an escape on his fiftieth birthday – along with the love of his life, his enigmatic kitchen assistant.
What his plans didn’t anticipate, however, was how unexpected events can derail the best made plans, and he soon comes to realise that one is always left with a choice of how you deal with the twists and turns in your vision of what might be. As he himself says, in the end you have to learn to accept what happens – age does that to you.
Haley captures the local community in KZN and the Indian culture in a way that allows the reader to visualise the little town with its characteristic South African cultural diversity. I could picture those typical small-town characters shaped by their in-built prejudices, the pivotal role of religion and the importance to uphold traditions. Indeed, I could smell Tubby’s delicious curry dishes, and feel the warmth and intimacy of the kitchen where a close-knit team cooks and prepares a daily fair.
Tubby is an endearing character whose story will stay with you for a long time.
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