Hello Loves, the JCB Prize long-list was announced day before yesterday and has some pretty surprising books on the long-list. Some that I've had my eye on and some that I had never heard of before. Some I want to pick up and read and others which I have honestly zero interest in picking up. But I think that there is a little something for everyone to pick up and that is a good thing be.
This book that I am reviewing today has made it to the long-list. I was reading it when the list was announced and having had read it I can see why it would make the cut. I am glad I already had it and I am glad I read it.
I might read a few more books from the long-list and review them in due time.
Let's talk about this book first.
Author: Krupa Ge
Publisher: Context Books (Westland)
Pages: 204
How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days ( I took my time with it)
Plot Summary: Yamuna is adrift. A long-term relationship has come to an end. Her mother and she are at loggerheads about their ancestral home in Chingleput, which she loves and lives in. Even her PhD on early twentieth-century music in Tamil Nadu seems to be going nowhere—until it leads her to an unexpected puzzle from the past.
During her research, she comes to be fascinated by her enigmatic grandaunt, Lalitha, who rose to prominence as a Carnatic musician at a time when thirteen-year-old brides were the norm. And then she chances upon a letter written by her own grandmother to her grandfather that opens up another window into Lalitha’s life. She wants to know more. Only, the more questions she asks, the closer her family draws its secrets. No one will talk to her about this long-dead ancestor’s life or death.
What lies beneath the stories they are willing to tell? Beyond the letters that Yamuna manages to purloin from her beloved grandfather’s papers when she visits him in Banaras? What did this family do to Lalitha? Krupa Ge’s debut novel is an absorbing tale of an angsty young woman who must unravel the secrets of her family before she can untangle her own life.
Things I Liked:
1. Some of my favourite things in the world in learning about family lores. Whether it's my own family, which to my utmost delight is rich in stories and characters and secrets and complications or even the stories about someone else's family (real or imagined). So this book from the outset had me interested. I related to Yamuna so much. I could imagine myself talking to people, trying to unearth more details about the life of her shrouded-in-mystery grandaunt- Lalitha. Everything Yamuna does to get to the bottom of this enigma had my heart.
2. I loved the writing. It's perfectly pleasant and accessible and from the very beginning the writer manages to pull you in and take you along for the ride. From the crowded gullies in Benaras to Madras in the 40s. You find yourself walking along with Yamuna and enjoying every second of this journey.
3. There is something about books about old family homes. Homes that become characters in themselves. Homes with so much history- not all of it pleasant or bearable, but a history that lingers. That adds dimensions to the story and deeply affects those to inhabit it. There is such a home in this book too. A home that has housed generations of this family. A home that is currently a bone of contention between mother and daughter. A home that Yamuna has called her own since she was seventeen and one she is willing to fight for. I grew up hearing about and, occasionally, visiting such a home and for me this story took me right back. It was one of my favourite things about the book.
4. Yamuna is a girl from today's world. Firmly set in present day. She is independent, well-read, lost, confused, knows what she wants (in certain areas) and willing to fight for what she needs. I liked her. I felt like I knew her. She was like a friend I grew to care about. One I rooted for. One I wished well. She isn't perfect and that makes her great. She doesn't have it all figured out, but she is open to learning, open to changing her mind and unlearn.
5. Lalitha- our other main character, who we meet via conversations about her, through memories, through music and through her beautiful letters. Your heart will break for her. Your soul soar for her greatness and talent. She was product of her time. Some might say she was a victim of her time too. Married young, to an abusive man, she would have withered away and suffered silently, yet she managed to carve out a space for herself, a niche and leave behind a legacy. She did all of this quietly, in ways that might infuriate you (or me sitting in 2021) but her life and her actions make sense in the world she lived in.
6. I loved Yamuna's family. Her Thaata (grandfather) and her mother might be be favourite secondary characters. They aren't perfect either and some of their actions might leave you feeling a little confused but wishing the confines of their thinking and world, these make sense too. It was realistic. These dynamics and conversations and decisions were things we see all around us. The book captures today's family perfectly.
7. The book does a good job shifting from place to time and from family gathering to rooftops parties and the conversations and discussions that take place in these settings. I especially found the December 2019 conversations and debates particularly relatable. All of it, the hurt, the confusion, the anger and rage and how we (most of us) wanted to do something to voice our displeasure with what was happening across the country. I loved how this very important time in our very recent history has been depicted with a realistic lens here.
8. This book doesn't offer you all the answer, what I mean is that you might, by the end of it, want more answers, you might want clearer or neat and sanitised endings. What happened to Yamuna's love life? Was Lalitha ever truly happy? A lot of these questions are answered but you might want more. Normally this would irk me. But then when does real life answer all of our questions? So why expect a book to do the same? Life is often messy and unclear and maybe a book that does that is perfectly reflective of our real lives.
Rating: 4/5
This is a great place to start if you are planing on reading from the Longlist. It's a slim book, one that you could read in one sitting and one that I think you'll enjoy very much.
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