49 India – Anuradha Roy – An Atlas of Impossible Longing (Score 7.80)

I loved this book. It opens with us looking at a very ornate house which has, over the years, gradually been encroached on by the Ganges as a result of changing monsoon patterns.

There is a mention, as so often in the books we have read, of “tribal people”. Unusually, they play a bigger part in this story than normal. Amulya is the employer of the tribal people, Kananbala (known as Kanan) is his wife. She is clearly unhappy about being left at home every time Amulya goes to a function such as the festival and feast with which the story opens.

Amulya’s factory produces effective medicines and perfumes from the local flowers and plants. Their closest neighbour is Digby Barnum, an administrator who works at the coal mine, one of the mainstays of the local economy. Digby has no real contact with Amulya, driving to work every day. Kanan is unhappy, being more used to the clatter and jollity of life in Calcutta, in a different place, surrounded by relatives, friends and theatres.

However, when relatives do come to visit for a fortnight they just make sarcastic comments about how Amulya and Kananbala have chaked, getting fat, and losing hair. Amulya and Kanan have a manservant, Gauranga. Their son, Nirmal, marries Shanti.

Kanan begins to suffer from an illness which leads her to use obscene language to family, friends and servants.

Kanan witnesses the murder of Mr Barnum when he comes home unexpectedly from a trip and his wife returns to the house with her lover. She wasn’t expecting him. When Kanan is interviewed by police later, she tells them that she had seen Mrs Barnum return early (no mention of the lover) and that Mrs Barnum went straight upstairs to play her piano.

Kana told them that, later, a group of his tribal workers had arrived and swarmed angrily round Mr Barnam, shouting. When they dispersed Mr Barnum was prone on the ground.

Things begin to get complicated so I will tell you nothing more. It is well worth carrying on with the story from that point on, right to the end. I scored the book at ten, being one of the most memorable books I have read in some time.