THE POISONWOOD BIBLE- Barbara Kingsolver

What can I say? Congo at the cusp of liberation comes heartbreakingly alive in the hands of the immensely talented Kingsolver. She does it with cleverness as it comes alive through the narrative of the self- centred Rachel, of Leah who years to be daddy’s darling, of Adah who refuses to speak and of the baby of the family Ruth May. Through the narrative it is not just Congo, its history and culture we discover but also the four sisters and their father who never speaks to us directly. The mother, Orleanna speaks to us later and when she does for the first time leaves a smear in our heart and questions in our mind that keep us going until the last page.


In a sentence- it’s a book of tragedies and triumphs, personal and national and a fitting ending. A final thought- Poisonwood Bible could not have been better named.

Read it- it’s brilliant, powerful and you wouldn’t want to miss something that’s definitely going to become a classic.

©Maya

The Monochrome Madonna – Kalpana Swaminathan

There comes a time when the writer you follow, arcs over the curves and rises to a new, higher level, delighting and greatly satisfying the faithful reader. That is what Kalpana Swaminathan does in her new book, the latest in the Lalli Mystery series.


Sita gets a call from her friend, Sitara declaring she is dying. Sita reaches her house to find a body, only it’s not Sitara but a strange man. Who is the man? What was he doing there? Why is Sita drugged? Why is there a Madonna hanging in the living room, that bears Sita’s face and is in monochrome? Why does Ramona turn nasty? And how did Sitara’s gleaming gold toe- nails become plain and grimy? Most importantly who really murdered him? Is Sitara’s husband who she claims he really is?

Swaminathan takes you on a journey that is highly readable; where the tale is well--plotted with a slice of psychology that will satisfy even the most stringent of the readers. The regular Lalli readers will find the characters more finely etched the crime more sophisticated and the narrative more assured. Swaminathan travels from humour to emotional to gritty with ease, keeping the interest hooked to the end.



Read it- one of the best detective books of Indian writing.



©Maya

Salt and Saffron- Kamila Shamsie

                                                                


Shamsie weaves magic with words. Here’s a sample:

“I could mention the spices, so perfectly balanced you could almost see the mustard seed leaning on the fenugreek, the cumin poised on the dried chillies”

And with this delicately poised, evocative prose that is laced with dry wit she weaves such a fine web- about Aliya, her family the Dard-e-Dils, and their family legend that you never notice that it is after all just a love story about falling in love with boys from the other of the tracks. The characters and their eccentricities, the aristocratic society they inhabit, the thin edge of class borders and the bigger boundaries between countries all come alive without burying you under their weight. You close the book with the feel of having had a sumptuous feast.

A fine blend of salt and saffron.

©Maya

The Bellini Madonna- Elizabeth Lowry

                                                               

Sigh. The blurb was so promising- a libidinous art historian, the search for an uncatalogued painting, a woman with possible sinister motives.


But within just a few pages, so many things went wrong. The art historian is just a little bit gristly and difficult to like, the book ends and you really are un clear as to who has hood winked the other, and the narrative drags. I had to skip read and after mid- way through the book, i really stopped caring what happened and to whom.

Read- why would you want to?

© Maya

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie- Alan Bradley

                                                                       

This one is going to be tough to write about because the book consumed me. And now I have to make sense of it. So I am going to do this the old- fashioned way- talk about the story a little bit and tell you what works and all that.


11 -year- old Flavia is obnoxious, precocious and a nightmare as a sibling. Her passion is chemistry and her specialty poisons. She lives her enigmatic father and two annoying sisters. Then there is the colourful odd jobs man, Dogger.

A stranger dies in their cucumber patch and no points for guessing who finds the body. The police arrest her father but Flavia is sure her dad is innocent. So she does some sleuthing on her own and we have a brush with poisons, prestidigitators, and philately and past- murders. And of course pie.

Tight plot, quirky characters, quiet humour and taut narrative. Original, fresh voice and characters you will fall love with. And an absolutely delicious murder

Read it- the pie’s crust is flaky, the stuffing perfectly tart and there is definitely a sweetness at the bottom. As perfect a murder novel as one can get post Christie.

©Maya

The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment – Isabel Losada

Okay. The Big Thing- I am going to stop telling you why I picked up this or other books- the reasons are the same- recommendations, interesting title , captivating blurb. If there is a story behind the why, I promise to let you in on it.


This book- one of the books that may well have influenced my life, I admit. How? When I tell you about the book, you might get the answer.

The book is about, as the title tells you, the author’s search for enlightenment. She tries everything- Insight Seminars, Rolfing- yeah I wondered too what the heck that was and I am going to resist the temptation to tell, tantric sex- I can see that smirk and tai`-chi.

The account is funny, candid, honest, informative and sometimes even inspiring. What you notice is how she open-mindedly embraces every experience, is willing to give it a fair chance and fair-minded in talking about it while being truly humorous. She launches into each one with whole heartedness and her account of it reads like a dizzy ride. So ehilarating that after every workshop she describes, you have to catch yourself from rushing off to try it. Even the colonic irrigation. Didn't mention earlier, did I? oh there are more in that book.

Read it- even if you are not seized by inspiration you will be hugely entertained. and definitely be better informed.

© Maya

The Elegance of the Hedgehog- Muriel Barberry

First off, this one is a serious contender for the Best Read of 2010 and it’s only April. Think about the title, what a delicious image. Then later one of the characters talks about it but by then you have already caught on to the metaphor.


Moving on- the characters. Renee, the concierge who is not what she seems or pretends to be. Please, please don’t indulge in common –place thoughts like lurking evil or a double life. She is simply pretends to live up to the stereo-type the residents carry in their heads of a concierge- crass, illiterate and stupid. In reality she reads Kant and Tolstoy, listens to Mozart and can tell you why she prefers the Dutch painters to the Italians.

Then there is the off- the chart- intelligent school girl detests her shallow, empty family and is planning her death when the novel opens. The reflections of the two mirror each other in an almost expected manner. The other characters are exactly what you would expect to find in a posh building in a posh part of Paris. Except for Manuela, a cleaning lady and the only friend of Renee`, who is a closet aristocrat.

The delightful book throws up philosophies, reflections, ideas and erudition that leap off the page And wrap themselves around you and make you pause. All this while being a warm, delightful, engaging read.

Ah, what happens in the book? Well, one resident dies and new one moves in. His arrival throws the existing balance out of skelter. New relationships are formed, dormant issues are resolved and lives are changed forever.

Read- You won’t regret it. I promise.

©Maya