Tomb of Sand
Books | Fiction / World Literature / India / 21st Century
Geetanjali Shree
WINNER OF THE 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE“A triumph of literature.”—Financial Times“Echoes of James Joyce, Jorge Luis Borges, Isabel Allende and Leo Tolstoy. . . . An enchanting ride.”—BookPage“A breath of fresh air.”—GuardianA playful, feminist, and utterly original epic set in contemporary northern India, about a family and the inimitable octogenarian matriarch at its heart.“A tale tells itself. It can be complete, but also incomplete, the way all tales are. This particular tale has a border and women who come and go as they please. Once you’ve got women and a border, a story can write itself . . .”Eighty-year-old Ma slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband. Despite her family’s cajoling, she refuses to leave her bed. Her responsible eldest son, Bade, and dutiful, Reebok-sporting daughter-in-law, Bahu, attend to Ma’s every need, while her favorite grandson, the cheerful and gregarious Sid, tries to lift her spirits with his guitar. But it is only after Sid’s younger brother—Serious Son, a young man pathologically incapable of laughing—brings his grandmother a sparkling golden cane covered with butterflies that things begin to change.With a new lease on life thanks to the cane’s seemingly magical powers, Ma gets out of bed and embarks on a series of adventures that baffle even her unconventional feminist daughter, Beti. She ditches her cumbersome saris, develops a close friendship with a hijra, and sets off on a fateful journey that will turn the family’s understanding of themselves upside down.Rich with fantastical elements, folklore, and exuberant wordplay, Geetanjali Shree’s magnificent novel explores timely and timeless topics, including Buddhism, global warming, feminism, Partition, gender binary, transcending borders, and the profound joys of life. Elegant, heartbreaking, and funny, it is a literary masterpiece that marks the American debut of an extraordinary writer.Translated from the Hindi by Daisy RockwellAuthor’s name pronounced: Ghee-TAHN-juh-lee Shree
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More Details:
Author
Geetanjali Shree
Pages
624
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published Date
2023-01-31
ISBN
0063299429 9780063299429
Community ReviewsSee all
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story and characters were wonderful, but the style in which this was written (and, based on the note from the translator, the spirit of the original shining through in this English translation) was the real star for me. I wanted to sit and luxuriate in this celebration of language for as long as I could, and that I did, my Libby app told me I spent nearly 20 hours reading this and all of them were wonderful."
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CaitVD
"Incredible book if you are a literarian or love poetry. The book uses beautiful descriptive language and symbolism. I feel this book should be taught in a cultural literature college class. It was challenging at times to follow or understand but that's all part of the authors journey. You definitely have to be patient with this book. But it is worth the process. I did it through audio book and thought that was helpful with the many Hindi scripts but its a book you have to pay attention to. I want to read it again while holding so I can really slow down and mark the multifaceted themes and messages. What a creative masterpiece "