Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
For readers of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, an unforgettable love story that shines a light on the global problem of overconsumption. All of Mumbai's memories and possessions end up at the Deonar garbage mountains where a small, forgotten community of rag-pickers lives. Following Farzana Ali, a girl born in Deonar, Saumya Roy reveals the inventiveness and resilience of the people who make a living off others' waste.
Instilled with superstition and magical realism, we learn of the spirits of belongings sent here to die, as Farzana finds love, hope and even beauty in this desolate and dangerous landscape.
As Farzana enters adulthood, the community's way of life becomes more and more precarious. Mumbai officials are forced to reckon with its waste mismanagement and discuss closing the dumping grounds, which would leave the people of Deonar more vulnerable than ever.
A modern parable exploring the consequences of urban overconsumption, Castaway Mountain delivers a moving testament to the impact of fickle desires and how true love and dignity can blossom in the darkest, most desperate places.
Synopsis
'I came to see the mountains as an outpouring of our modern lives, ' Roy writes, 'of the endless chase for our desires to fill us.' Readers of Behind the Beautiful Forevers will be drawn to this harrowing portrait.
-- Publishers Weekly
Castaway Mountain deserves every accolade. A stunning achievement.
-- Kiran Desai, Booker Prize Winner, author of Inheritance of Loss. All of Mumbai's possessions and memories come to die at the Deonar garbage mountains. Towering at the outskirts of the city, the mountains are covered in a faint smog from trash fires. Over time, as wealth brought Bollywood knock offs, fast food and plastics to Mumbaikars, a small, forgotten community of migrants and rag-pickers came to live at the mountains' edge, making a living by re-using, recycling and re-selling.
Among them is Farzana Ali Shaikh, a tall, adventurous girl who soon becomes one of the best pickers in her community. Over time, her family starts to fret about Farzana's obsessive relationship to the garbage. Like so many in her community, Farzana, made increasingly sick by the trash mountains, is caught up in the thrill of discovery--because among the broken glass, crushed cans, or even the occasional dead baby, there's a lingering chance that she will find a treasure to lift her family's fortunes.
As Farzana enters adulthood, her way of life becomes more precarious. Mumbai is pitched as a modern city, emblematic of the future of India, forcing officials to reckon with closing the dumping grounds, which would leave the waste pickers more vulnerable than ever.
In a narrative instilled with superstition and magical realism, Saumya Roy crafts a modern parable exploring the consequences of urban overconsumption. A moving testament to the impact of fickle desires, Castaway Mountain reveals that when you own nothing, you know where true value lies: in family, community and love.