This novel can be called a garden of the five senses. It reads at a languorous pace, taking the reader into sylvan surroundings, a pastoral paean as it were. We can "see" the scenes, so visual are the descriptions.
The novel is set in India and Norway, around the mid eighties. Suchareeta, or Suchu for short is a young adult straining to break away from parental bonds to find her feet in a foreign land . She gets the opportunity to study in Norway for a year and jumps at it, aided by her parents in their own ways.
In discovering Norway she also discovers herself. How it all comes about forms the rest of the story.
The relationship between Suchu's parents is delineated delicately. The author's grasp of human relationships is admirable. For example, attention is subtly drawn to secrets shared separately with each parent.
The author has her finger on the pulse of characters across countries and generations. She has got every character's accent or dialect down pat. The finely nuanced differences in cultures are highlighted by juxtaposition.
The story illustrates how distance can sometimes bring you closer. Letters can express emotions which cannot be shown face to face. The letters exchanged between Suchu and her parents, showcase the feelings of both generations. Suchu's need to prove herself deserving of independence in a letter to her mother, stands out beautifully, and is topical. Maybe parents whose children are straining at the leash, can get some perspective with this. In another instance,Bhuvan's letter is just right, mistakes and all!
The writing is peppered with unobtrusive homilies ("I dont fight, I simply resist the need to be right"; "The balm needed was in the listening of the tale")and unusual metaphors (" The wooden staircase accompanied her every step in the night, that went by unnoticed in the day.")
This is not a quick read, but one to be ruminated over. It is to be enjoyed like a symphony or an epicurean dish. The vocabulary is a delightful deviation from the usual frenetic, clipped, snappy, staccato reads, yet does not send the reader running to the dictionary. Rather, the reading is like meeting old, nearly forgotten yet dear friends.
I would like to have a little more insight into the secrets of Suchu's parents; here's hoping for a standalone book on their life too!
A few typos have crept in but nothing a round of editing cannot fix.
All in all an unusual, lyrical read.
