Jam Fruit Tree
SynopsisPlot
Hilarious, affectionate, candid and moving, this is the story of the Burghers of Sri Lanka... Who are the Burghers? Descended from the Dutch, the Portuguese, the British and other foreigners who arrived in the island-nation of Sri Lanka (and 'mingled' with the local inhabitants), the Burghers often stand out because of their curiously mixed features-grey eyes in an otherwise Dravid face, for instance.... A handsome and guileless people, the Burghers have always lived it up, forever willing to 'put a party'. Carl Muller, a Burgher himself, writes in this quasi-fictional, engaging biography of the lives of his people; they emerge, at the end of his story, as a race of fun-loving, hardy people, much like the jam fruit tree which simply refuses to be contained or destroyed.
Story
About this book
The Jam Fruit Tree follows the Burgher community of Sri Lanka, a group descended from Dutch, Portuguese, British, and other foreign settlers who married and had children with local inhabitants over centuries. Carl Muller, himself a Burgher, draws on his own family history to build a quasi-fictional account of how this mixed-heritage community shaped its identity on the island. The Burghers are often physically distinctive, carrying features from both European and South Asian ancestry, and they developed a reputation for sociability and a readiness to celebrate.
Muller's narrative traces the everyday lives, gatherings, and stubborn persistence of a people who occupy an unusual position in Sri Lankan society. The title refers to the jam fruit tree, a plant known for growing back stubbornly no matter how often it is cut, which Muller uses as a comparison for the Burgher community's refusal to disappear. The tone moves between humor and frankness, mixing affection for his subjects with an honest look at their circumstances.
The book won the Gratiaen Memorial Prize for the best work in English literature by a Sri Lankan writer, awarded for 1993. It is the opening volume of a trilogy centered on the Burgher experience.
