Saraswati Park. Anjali Joseph (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Loved loved loved this book. There must be something in the water as I have never read a book by a South Asian writer I haven't loved. Having said that, this was special. Set in a middle class area of Bombay where everything and nothing happens, this is a story of the things we never say to each other, of unrequited love and longings as well as unfulfilled dreams and desires of all of us. Mohan is a middle-aged man who wants to be a writer. His long suffering wife finally reaches her breaking point just as their gay nephew arrives to stay with them. Set among the owls and car alarms of modern India where everyone has a cell phone but children still labour all day or sell themselves for a meal it is the sense of place that captures us as well as the hopes and dreams of ordinary people. This would make an excellent movie! Mohan and his wife live in Saraswati Park Bombay and his nephew,Ashish comes to stay with them after failing and having to repeat his last year in college. Mohan is a letter writer and lives in his own world and comfort, never realizing what effect this has on his wife, Lakshmi, till a relative of hers falls ill and she leaves to help and doesn't seem to want to come back. Ashish is nineteen and coming onto his sexuality. A failed relationship with a richer friend and an older tutor don't work out and Ashish goes thru the heartache of finding out that sometimes things don't work out well or as we would have them. The author Anjali Joseph takes us into a world rich with flavors, other peoples lives and the chaotic ever changing weather of India and its humid beauty.
What do You think about Saraswati Park. Anjali Joseph (2011)?
if for nothing else, worth reading just for Anjali Joseph's descriptions of light..
—Laura
A novel which gave me the feeling of watching a slow movie. It was slow but good.
—Layla25
Took so long to get into and the story didn't really go anywhere. Shame.
—Jamie
Though the story line was fine, I found it a little slow.
—Candy
