In terms of novels about the migration of Bengali families, I still think Lahiri's work is superior to this. That said, this was a fairly quick but engaging read with good character development of both the Bengali and British family members. There's also a lot of good observations about borders and migration in general in here; discussions of inhabiting space, the arbitrariness and fluidity of borders, place of birth vs. nationality, and the relationships of people outside and independent of governments. You can tell that Ghosh has an academic background but his prose is lovely. I also learned more about the political situation in India and 1964 riots than I had known previously.

Share/Like this Review?