When the light shifts, you see the world differently. Against a rising tide of fundamentalism in India, a mother and daughter lose the most important man in their lives. Shashi, fifty-something and suddenly widowed, tries to contact her only daughter, Tara, to break the news, but cannot reach her. As Shashi confronts her loss, she finds, amidst grief, unexpected new freedoms. Meanwhile, Tara, a spoiled but brilliant university student, has retreated to Dharamsala to deal with the fall out from an ill-advised relationship. Her self-imposed solitude makes contact near impossible, so by the time she learns of her loss, the funeral is already over. Without the man that bound them, Shashi and Tara struggle to reconcile. But his absence also makes them a target for an emerging religious group determined to put women in their place, and Shashi and Tara individually prepare to defend their independence. If mother and daughter are to come together, they must find a way to understand both their new world, and each other. But can you ever emerge from an eclipse unscathed?
Anindita Ghose is a writer and journalist based in Mumbai. She was previously the Editor of the Saturday magazine Mint Lounge and the Features Director of Vogue India. She completed her MA in Linguistics and Semiotics from the University of Mumbai and has an MA in Arts & Culture Journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in New York. In 2019, she was a Hawthornden Writing Fellow. The Illuminated is her first novel.
Title: The Illuminated
Author: Ghose, Anindita
ISBN: 9781803289779
Binding:
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: 2023-01-19
Number of Pages: 304
Weight: 0.5301 kg
'Lyrical throughout yet so deceptively easygoing... The Illuminated is an extraordinary novel' -- Andre Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name
A Clever Nuanced Debut Novel * Platinum Magazine *
'One of the Best Books for January 2023!' * Cosmopolitan *
'A novel of such self-assurance one can scarcely believe it is the author's first' -- Shanta Gokhale
'An incisive portrayal of the abusve and exploitation that thrives as duty, perhaps even attraction, in relationships' -- Shubhangi Swarup
'Sad and funny and wise, The Illuminated is one of those books that will make you hug your loved ones tight' -- Akhil Sharma
'Powerful, evocative and accomplished - it's hard to believe The Illuminated is a debut.' * Alice Ryan *