This was such a pleasant surprise - Roy is a wonderful writer and I am ready to move to Ranikhet, a fictionalized version of where the author lives - it reminded me of Narayan's Malgudi. a kind of down-to-earth scale and while there is politics and danger and modern technology, there is also a kind of good-tempered contentment and humanity. There is a plot here but I found it less interesting than the creation of place and character. Also, one of my favorite Bollywood songs - Dum Maro Dum - is a plot point. I may return to this book - - I grabbed it because the title I was looking by this author was not available. After one week I am barely 25 pages in. I am struggling a bit with the language. The author provides a glossary but more often than not, the word I am seeking is not there. I just got a call that the book I was looking for is back so I will put this one aside and try one of her other novels.
The setting was the best part. I didn't find the characters to be very engaging.
—izzy
More three and a half but well written with a simple story line
—Gwen
Extremely well written and a fascinating story
—jesse_lala
