The Sisters of Serendib: The powerful, beautifully crafted new novel for 2026 about loss, identity and belonging, from the award-winning author of Untethered.

Three sisters are separated as children. Decades later, with so much lost and changed, can they find their way back to each other?

In 1990, a boat of asylum seekers leaves war-torn Sri Lanka, bound for Australia. When a mother dies on the journey, her three young daughters are separated and scattered across the country.

Years later, the eldest, Janu, still remembers the home she left and the sisters she's lost. Having freed herself from the grip of a painful childhood, she builds a life for herself in a coastal town, running a small shop called Serendib, where the air hums with memory and people come to find what they didn't know they were searching for.

In Melbourne, Samar, the middle sister, dances to speak the words she cannot say, pouring her longing and restlessness into movement, while in Sydney, Maryam, the youngest, finds magic in language, always searching for a place to belong.

As Janu discovers clues to her sisters' identities and begins the quest to bring them together, they all face the question: can something broken for so long ever be made whole again?

Beautiful and heartbreaking, this is the story of women who rise from loss to reclaim their stories, rebuild their lives, and step into the fierce beauty of their own becoming. A powerful new novel from the award-winning author of Untethered.

PRAISE:

'Beautifully written and quietly devastating, The Sisters of Serendib traces the long shadow of separation and the stubborn pull of family. Each sister's life feels intimate and real, shaped by loss yet reaching towards one another. A moving story about finding your way back across years, across silence and towards healing.' -- Emma Pei Yin, award-winning author of When Sleeping Women Wake

'Sisters, spices and serendipity blend in this moving and beautifully written story of families lost and found. I will be pressing it into the hands of everyone I know.' -- Victoria Purman, author of The Marriage Trap

'Love and hope shine from every page and I couldn't spend enough time with these women. This is a perfect book for readers who want stories about family and women and hope, with some Practical Magic-style vibes on the side.' -- BookishBron

'I love Ayesha's Untethered, and couldn't wait to read The Sisters of Serendib. It didn't disappoint. Heart-warming and heartbreaking, this book has it all ... Her use of culture, food and family creates a story that will stay with readers long after they have read the last line.' -- Aaron Cordy Book Reviews