Synopses & Reviews
In Anita Nair’s warm and imaginative first novel, middle-aged bachelor Mukundan returns to his native Indian village and is haunted by the past. Determined to conquer old ghosts, Mukundan decides to restore his childhood home and hires One-Screw-Loose Bhasi, an outcast painter, to oversee the renovations. A practitioner of a unique style of healing, Bhasi sets about mending his troubled friend, but the durability of Mukundan’s transformation into a better man is soon called into question. With humor, wisdom, and a keen understanding of human frailty, Anita Nair has written a playful and moving account of the redemptive power of friendship.
Review
“This imaginative debut will delight with its remarkable grace, unforced humor, and elegantly descriptive prose.” —
Library Journal“Charming...genial.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Playful....surprising.” —Seattle Times
“Nair has the magical ability to make all of her readers feel, briefly, like Kaikurussi villagers in this humorous, imaginative and gracefully written novel.” —Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
When Tess Winterstone returns to her suburban childhood home after almost 30 years to attend a high school reunion, memories flood back, firmly shut doors open, and the betrayal by her father decades earlier comes to rest. Masterfully weaving the complexities of familial love and rosy 1950s suburban life with the dark underside of such a reality, Mary Morris movingly portrays a woman coming to terms with a warm and charming father's duplicity.
Synopsis
In Anita Nair’s warm and imaginative first novel, middle-aged bachelor Mukundan returns to his native Indian village and is haunted by the past. Determined to conquer old ghosts, Mukundan decides to restore his childhood home and hires One-Screw-Loose Bhasi, an outcast painter, to oversee the renovations. A practitioner of a unique style of healing, Bhasi sets about mending his troubled friend, but the durability of Mukundan’s transformation into a better man is soon called into question. With humor, wisdom, and a keen understanding of human frailty, Anita Nair has written a playful and moving account of the redemptive power of friendship.
About the Author
Mary Morris is a recipient of the Rome Prize for Literature and teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is also author of the novels
House Arrest and
The Night Sky and the travel memoirs
Angels & Aliens and
Nothing to Declare. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughter.