This is truly a masterpiece of contemporary English literature. Ms. Roy spins a brilliant web of a time of innocence long lost. The verbal imagery, the atmosphere, the simplicity of the characters, the tangibly human faults and shortcomings all make you want to stand up and say BRAVO !!
Detractors of the book might claim that the book lacks a plot as such. But not every book is meant to have a plot as such, not every book is intended as a high-strung crime thriller and not every book is meant for all. This book pretty much does not need a plot ... an underlying theme. The richness of it’s characters’ emotions is more than enough to carry it through.
Ms. Roy pretty much creates her own language as she draws us into the seemingly mundane and yet magically enchanted lives of a brother and sister living in communist Kerala, and how a simple event changes life as they know it. The book builds to an emotional crescendo which culminates in an ending that is not just shocking but ground-breaking for an Indian author. Yet to her credit, Ms. Roy totally convinces the reader of the validity of why this could have been the only end to the book.
This one is definitely a collector’s item.