I thought this would be an interesting, exciting book, all about life in Calcutta, India, and on and on, in the usual genre of entertaining Indian-english books. Boy was I in for a surprise! A totally serious, and at times, rather depressing ( check out the name! ) book, ehm, it Did win the booker prize! Well its about an orphaned girl, growing up with home tutoring, in a godforsaken part of India, close to the Nepalese border, with her retired judge grandfather, and his cook for company.
More than that, it touches on times of strife and war, as the Nepalese gurkhas, more of outlaws, take over and impose curfews and laws. Not just the tale of India – Nepal, or the 16 year old girls tale, it is also about the cooks sons story, as, uneducated, he steps off to America, only to become a menial worker, turning from job to job, as an illegal, his struggle for survival there, and his journey back to India.
More than that, it touches on times of strife and war, as the Nepalese gurkhas, more of outlaws, take over and impose curfews and laws. Not just the tale of India – Nepal, or the 16 year old girls tale, it is also about the cooks sons story, as, uneducated, he steps off to America, only to become a menial worker, turning from job to job, as an illegal, his struggle for survival there, and his journey back to India.
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