Wonderfully narrated novel of a pre/post-apocalyptic India
One of my goals this year was to read more geographically widely, and the latest of Mumbai-born and PEN/Faulkner finalist Suri’s novels set in India delivered on many fronts. It’s a pre- and post-apocalyptic novel in several senses; bombs — and the fear of bombs — are destroying cities, and in the lives of Sarita, her husband Karun, and the mysterious Jaz there are devastated wastelands of the heart as well. It’s a moving novel as Sarita struggles with her physically loveless marriage, she’s brave and fearless and a mover of her own world in her search to be reunited with Karun after the bombs have fallen. Karun’s brilliant mind and will are bent for and against himself. There are twists and turns to this novel, as cults and religions and militias rise up in and against each other along sectarian and other lines, and we see through flashbacks the author’s prismatic glimpses of modern India amidst cultural, economic, and religious changes. Narrators Adam and Ayyar were wonderful; Adam was double cast as both Karun and Jaz and inhabited both with (alternately) self-conflict and self-confidence. The plot marches along by foot, by train, by boat, through violence and fear and colorful characters. Strongly recommended.