February 25, 2013
Sankaran’s well-crafted debut novel, set in Bangalore, traces the disparate yet intersecting lives of Anand Murthy, principal at Cauvery Auto, and Kamala, his family’s maid, who is struggling to provide for her 12-year-old son. Although Anand married into an influential family, he harbors dreams of expanding his factory without the aid of his meddlesome father-in-law. Yet to do so he must locate land and additional funding in a country where bribery is expected and nothing is assured. His lofty goal leads him into unknown territory that could jeopardize everything he’s tried to build. While Anand and Kamala are both desperately working for what they want, the distance between their worlds is further emphasized by the chasm between their goals. As Kamala is given more responsibility in Anand’s household, she faces eviction from her one-room home in the wake of development: “Overnight, the villagers’ character changed: from farmers protective of their own to businessmen eager to engage with strangers in their midst.” Kamala tries to shield this change, and the burden of new responsibility, from her son while planning for his future. Sankaran firmly establishes her talent through the nuances of her characters and a striking exploration of culture. Agent: Lane Zachary.
Starred review from February 15, 2013
The brisk pace of economic and social change in India does not always bode well for a Bangalore factory owner and his servants. Anand has a chance to achieve true prosperity at last: Cauvery Auto, the auto parts manufacturer he built from scratch, is courting a major Japanese account. However, the Japanese are entertaining other bids, and in order to bring Cauvery Auto to the necessary level of productivity, Anand needs additional real estate. Largely beneath his notice, Anand's house servants, house maids Kamala and Thangam and cook Shanta, contend with their own dramas. Kamala, a widow who has been struggling to raise her son, Narayan, ever since being cut off by her brother, hopes to get the boy into a private school, his only chance for upward mobility. Shanta's husband beats her and steals from her, and Thangam is moonlighting by running a pin-money Ponzi scheme which is on the verge of collapse. Anand's life has always been run by his vain, spendthrift wife, Vidya, and her meddlesome father, Harry Chinappa. So far, Chinappa's inroads have been limited to organizing lavish parties bankrolled by Anand. But when Anand hires a "Landbroker" to acquire land from several farmers, Chinappa, without consulting Anand, brokers his own deal. When Anand objects, Chinappa's politically powerful friends operate behind the scenes to subvert and stymie the Landbroker's negotiations. So heavily leveraged is Cauvery that the failure of the land acquisition would spell irretrievable ruin for Anand and all who depend on him: not only his wife, children and servants, but Narayan, whom Anand is sponsoring to attend private school. Meanwhile, the humble rental Kamala occupies is being sold to developers, and she and Narayan will shortly be homeless. Having contrived suspenseful ways to get her characters into terrible trouble, the devices deployed by Sankaran to extricate them--or not--do not disappoint. Sankaran's debut novel, like her well-received short story collection (The Red Carpet, 2005), is a vivid expose of modern India's growing pains.
COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
November 15, 2012
In Bangalore, the prosperous Anand needs money and land for his factory, while the family's maid lives on the edge and worries about her teenage son. Promising: Sankaran's debut story collection, The Red Carpet, won Poets & Writers magazine's Best First Fiction Award.
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 1, 2013
Anand Murthy is a driven young man who, despite his birth into the scholarly Brahmin caste of Bangalore, makes a name for himself as an entrepreneur in the field of automotive engineering. When his small factory begins to attract international contracts, Anand needs to acquire land. One of his servants, Kamala, is also in need of space, namely, a place where her son can grow into manhood without bad influences. Anand and Kamala narrate Sankaran's masterful novel in turns, each aware of the other's trials through the master-servant relationship they share. Though they exist in separate economic and social spheres, they are linked by the common threads of optimism and hard work. The different information each narrator is privy to enables the reader to see the middle ground between them, a device that creates irresistible tension and makes this novel impossible to put down. Within this compelling tale, Sankaran addresses government corruption in India, and the balance that must be struck between new industry and the traditions of the past in a culture where both are essential for survival.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)
May 15, 2013
Welcome to the New India! In this first novel by Sankaran, following her story collection, The Red Carpet, readers are again transported to Bangalore, where two families live very different lives. Even if he isn't a doctor or lawyer, as his family wanted, Anand is a success, running a small but thriving auto-parts plant on the verge of winning a major contract and expanding. He appears to be happily married as well. But Anand feels pressured by his job and his domineering wife and father-in-law. Meanwhile, single mother Kamala is employed as a maid in Anand's household, trying to make a better life for her bright but rebellious son with an income barely providing for their needs. Working for Anand's discontented wife isn't easy, but if she leaves her job, Kamala will be back on the street. The vivid depiction of Kamala's struggles gives the reader a clear view into the harrowing world of a woman trying to make it in bustling Bangalore. VERDICT This novel has much going for it: well-developed characters, an engaging plot, and a memorable setting in modern India. Not just for fans of Indian fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 11/1/12.]--Shaunna E. Hunter, Hampden-Sydney Coll. Lib., VA
Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.