A GOOGLY IN THE COMPOUND

A family’s long-simmering tensions boil over during a trip to the old homestead in this literary novel.

Sept. 25, 1945. In the town of Navsari, India, lies Truth Bungalow, the formerly stately home of the wealthy Sanjana family. The Sanjanas no longer live there, but on this particular day, the family finds itself back to visit the pet tiger who resides in one of the rooms. Dolly is the family matriarch: the widow of Kavas and current wife of his younger brother, Phiroze, who lost an arm in World War I. Dolly has two adult sons: Sohrab by her first husband and Rustom by her second. The half brothers (and cousins) are as different as night and day: Sohrab is fair and prickly, English-educated with an English wife, Daisy Holiday, while Rustom is dark and scarred by his service in the more recent World War. As they sit in the garden discussing the perennial tensions of India, the back story of each of the family members is slowly revealed. Like their country, the tale of the Sanjanas is one of rises, stumbles, and redefinitions; like many families, the story is one of parentage, resentment, and legacy. All the while, the pet tiger, Victoria, lurks nearby like the hand of fate itself—and she is quite a bit larger than she used to be. Desai’s prose is fluid and exact, sketching the complex spaces that his characters inhabit. Here, a teenage Daisy watches the king of England parade down the street from the shoulders of a stranger: “Daisy felt she lived in three worlds: first, in London; next, in the presence of the King; and finally on the shoulders of a strange man who bore her as easily as if she were a child. The procession moved slowly, but seemed over in an instant. Raised above the crowd she had imagined the King waved for her alone.” The book is written in a mannered style that evokes the time period, and while the plot goes certain places that readers will expect, the author provides some surprises as well. The result is a wide-lensed meditation on power dynamics—within countries and within families.

An immersive family tale with a slightly retro feel.