Dream Builders

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In this panoramic view of a new city in India, Oindrila Mukherjee creates an exhilarating polyphonic novel. This is a book that has so much to say, and skillfully gives voice to a multitude of characters to say it. Recommended By Keith M., Powells.com

After living in the US for years, Maneka Roy returns home to India to mourn the loss of her mother and finds herself in a new world. The booming city of Hrishipur where her father now lives is nothing like the part of the country where she grew up, and the more she sees of this new, sparkling city, the more she learns that nothing — and no one — here is as it appears. Ultimately, it will take an unexpected tragic event for Maneka and those around her to finally understand just how fragile life is in this city built on aspirations.

Written from the perspectives of ten different characters, Oindrila Mukherjee's incisive debut novel explores class divisions, gender roles, and stories of survival within a society that is constantly changing and becoming increasingly Americanized. It's a story about India today, and people impacted by globalization everywhere: a tale of ambition, longing, and bitter loss that asks what it really costs to try and build a dream.

A sweeping debut… [Mukherjee] does a great job capturing the setting and exploring the fateful power dynamics… a penetrating look at the fast-growing country's shaky facade.” Publishers Weekly

The Dream Builders is a novel of epic proportions that follows Maneka Roy and those around her as they each ponder the power of forgiveness and learn none of them can wield that power without first forgiving the self. Oindrila Mukherjee allows full life for these characters who are often real enough to remind us of ourselves, even as they betray one another... even as they betray themselves. This is a lovely debut.” Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Tradition

“Oindrila Mukherjee's The Dream Builders is such an impressive feat of storytelling, a novel that examines the constraints of class, of gender, of history, while showcasing the sheer expansiveness of the endeavor, skillfully shifting the point of view amongst a group of characters who each demand a claim on the story. It's a marvel of a structure, built by a great talent.” Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

“A multitude of voices and visions — arresting, wrenching, desiring — come together to create an astonishing, and astonishingly accurate, portrait of contemporary India. Oindrila Mukherjee has done a superb job.” Chitra Divakaruni, bestselling author of The Mistress of Spices

Oindrila Mukherjee is an associate professor of creative writing at Grand Valley State University. She grew up in Kolkata, India, and resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.