Standstill cover art

Standstill

The art of evading my problems across three continents

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Standstill

By: Sashi Perera
Narrated by: Sashi Perera
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

After cancelling a destination wedding in Sri Lanka at the eleventh hour, most people would take a moment to regroup. Not Sashi - insisting she's unfazed, she plunges into working with international refugee organisations around the world. Those sleepless nights are for reflecting on chaotic romances, work stress and transient lifestyles, right?

After one too many messy experiences, Sashi must accept that life is at a standstill. She returns to Australia where her reality stinks. But that just might be where she needs to be.

From online comedy sensation Sashi Perera, Standstill is a memoir of reluctant self-discovery by a person forced towards a mirror kicking and screaming, finally looking in and saying, Oh shit. It's for anyone who's lost their identity, relationship or place in the world and hesitated every step along the journey to get them back.

©2025 Sashi Perera (P)2025 Penguin Random House Australia Audio

Critic reviews

'Brilliant, vulnerable and hilarious. Sashi Perera has given us a comedy, a tragedy, a memoir, a polemic and an instruction manual on self-forgiveness. I laughed and cried, often at the same time.' SHANKARI CHANDRAN

'This book is chaos. This book is laughter and love. This book is a friend. Give it to someone who struggles, to someone you love, someone who needs to forgive themselves. Give it to you. I adored it.' FREDRIK BACKMAN

'This book isn't just funny (which, obviously) - it's also a deep dive into identity and belonging. Even when she's in a hectic shame spiral, completely adrift (which, let's be honest, happens a lot, Sashi), she's still relentlessly searching for meaning in a world that sometimes feels like it's lost its own. Bloody impressive. I loved every page. It's brilliant.' EM RUSCIANO
All stars
Most relevant
I loved the raw honesty, vulnerability, and the qualities of the writing, beautifully articulated. Listening to Sashi’s voice reading ,made the book close-up and personal. Sashi is a treasure, So clever and funny, she describes herself as rising from the ashes.
She is modest about her achievements but has forged a brilliant new career in comedy and self expression. I’m a big fan of Sashi, being a Sri Lankan myself, her writing resonates very closely, specially her descriptions of Sri Lanka and the closeness of family and community there.
I learned about refugee processing and the difficult decisions she had to make when processing distressed and vulnerable peoples asylum applications. Heartbreaking . Sashi writes it all so well and brings it to life. Thank you.

Honest Vulnerable well written and read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Sashi starts by cancelling her wedding (something a good Sri Lankan/Australian girl simply Does. Not. Do.) then heading overseas to do refugee work (much of it unpaid), thus trashing her cultural and actual capital. In the wild ride that follows, I learned a lot about a life that has very little in common with my own, except that we both currently live in Melbourne. At times I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to hug or slap young Sashi as she crashed around the globe trying to save the world while struggling to save herself. Her insights into refugee laws and the realities in multiple countries were eye opening. Come for the self-deprecating slapstick and travel adventure, stay for the humane, informed insight. Then go buy a ticket to one of her stand up comedy shows.

A wild & unsparingly honest ride through a unique set of life experiences

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it. Great sense of humour. Interesting and insightful while also hilariously funny. Hope to read more from her

Entertaining, insightful, hilarious

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very well narrated by the author as she leads us from despair to chaos via the United Nations. An excellent snapshot of a decision that seems to be from nowhere but of course is rooted in everything.

I was fascinated by the machinations of the UN and the nomadic lives of the “exp-pats” across the continents. The authors steadfast belief that she can & will make a difference in the world and the reality bite that arrives.

Funny and lovely whilst making uncomfortable reading at times I highly recommend this listen.

A Standout Memoir

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As a Sri Lankan, now living in the UK, this book was packed with so many raw relatable moments that was laced with nostalgia.
The writing is witty and funny and honest and I couldn’t stop listening to it. To the author: You are force of nature - and I hope you know that sharing your inner thoughts and experiences make so many people feel heard and validated and hopeful.
Can’t wait for the next one! x

Brilliant, raw and so relatable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews