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maahi 's review for:
The Illuminated
by Anindita Ghose
❝The question of feelings is as inconsequential as the sliced cucumber salad at an Indian wedding feast.❞
The novel begins with the unexpected death of Robi Mallick, a highly acclaimed & prominent architect. We follow his widow and daughter come to terms with his death & try to navigate a world that is increasingly hostile to women.
Although this is Ghose’s debut novel, her writing is sharp, intricate & unafraid. I did not expect to be very impressed by the political undertones of the book, but her portrayal of “MSS - Mahalaxmi Seva Sangh,” a fictional right-wing religious fundamentalist group on the rise in India was excellent. In that aspect, this book heralds the dangers of letting these fundamentalists run the show.
In the beginning, we encounter Shashi as she has just lost her husband while they were visiting their son in the US. Without him she is untethered and lost. Having lived in his shadow for so long, she doesn’t know who she is without him. She teaches at a juvenile home & has lived a cocooned lifestyle, first in her father’s home & then in her husband’s home. She is overlooked - her son spends weeks finding the perfect gift for his father when he comes home, but gets her random gift-packs of perfume. When she returns home, she feels “like an interloper” in her house without Robi.
Shashi’s character was my favourite in the book. Her parts were written with deft observations. One of my favourite lines in the book is when she says, “Robi had a good marriage. I was a small part of it. I mourn him. But I also mourn me.”
Then we meet Tara, Robi’s beloved daughter who is locked away in Dharamshala & only learns of her father’s death much later. She is a Sanskrit scholar who is reeling from a heartache. After a passionate affair with an older man that has overshadowed her academic career, she finds herself struggling to mend her heart. The news of her father’s death only worsens her heartache. Anindita’s portrayal of heartbreak is so raw & intimate that it had me bawling my eyes out!
About the political aspect -
The “MSS” is a social group who think it is their prerogative, or rather, their moral obligation to take the world back to ‘morality’, mostly by showing women their place in the world. They push their agenda into schools, universities, politics and even the private lives of citizens. One of the things they hope to achieve is passing the “Lakshman Rekha Bill”, which will ban women from living alone. Anyone who’s remotely being paying attention will know just how powerful this sort of lobbying has become & how we can no longer dismiss these groups as being being a nuisance. Anindita paints a world that is macabre for its women, but the real horror is the fact that given the circumstances, it is quite plausible.
I really liked the ending, it was a pleasant surprise. My only qualm about the book is that it was a bit heavy on the Sanskrit poetry and history, & that the last 50 pages were a little overcrowded. Overall, a fabulous novel.
The novel begins with the unexpected death of Robi Mallick, a highly acclaimed & prominent architect. We follow his widow and daughter come to terms with his death & try to navigate a world that is increasingly hostile to women.
Although this is Ghose’s debut novel, her writing is sharp, intricate & unafraid. I did not expect to be very impressed by the political undertones of the book, but her portrayal of “MSS - Mahalaxmi Seva Sangh,” a fictional right-wing religious fundamentalist group on the rise in India was excellent. In that aspect, this book heralds the dangers of letting these fundamentalists run the show.
In the beginning, we encounter Shashi as she has just lost her husband while they were visiting their son in the US. Without him she is untethered and lost. Having lived in his shadow for so long, she doesn’t know who she is without him. She teaches at a juvenile home & has lived a cocooned lifestyle, first in her father’s home & then in her husband’s home. She is overlooked - her son spends weeks finding the perfect gift for his father when he comes home, but gets her random gift-packs of perfume. When she returns home, she feels “like an interloper” in her house without Robi.
Shashi’s character was my favourite in the book. Her parts were written with deft observations. One of my favourite lines in the book is when she says, “Robi had a good marriage. I was a small part of it. I mourn him. But I also mourn me.”
Then we meet Tara, Robi’s beloved daughter who is locked away in Dharamshala & only learns of her father’s death much later. She is a Sanskrit scholar who is reeling from a heartache. After a passionate affair with an older man that has overshadowed her academic career, she finds herself struggling to mend her heart. The news of her father’s death only worsens her heartache. Anindita’s portrayal of heartbreak is so raw & intimate that it had me bawling my eyes out!
About the political aspect -
The “MSS” is a social group who think it is their prerogative, or rather, their moral obligation to take the world back to ‘morality’, mostly by showing women their place in the world. They push their agenda into schools, universities, politics and even the private lives of citizens. One of the things they hope to achieve is passing the “Lakshman Rekha Bill”, which will ban women from living alone. Anyone who’s remotely being paying attention will know just how powerful this sort of lobbying has become & how we can no longer dismiss these groups as being being a nuisance. Anindita paints a world that is macabre for its women, but the real horror is the fact that given the circumstances, it is quite plausible.
I really liked the ending, it was a pleasant surprise. My only qualm about the book is that it was a bit heavy on the Sanskrit poetry and history, & that the last 50 pages were a little overcrowded. Overall, a fabulous novel.