The Lowland
by Jhumpa Lahiri · 2013
Buy on AmazonBrothers Subhash and Udayan Mitra pursue vastly different lives--Udayan in rebellion-torn Calcutta, Subhash in a quiet corner of America--until a shattering tragedy compels Subhash to return to India, where he endeavors to heal family wounds.
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"Despite its nominations for multiple prizes, including the Booker and the National Book Award, Jhumpa Lahiri’s second novel has provoked decidedly mixed reactions. Unlike her earlier books, which focus on the culture gap between Bengali immigrants and their American-raised offspring, The Lowland is about the abiding grip of the past on a “family of solitaries” bound together more by painful tragedy, bad choices and secrets than by love. It isn’t perfect, but I loved it for her compassion even for her coldest characters, her shimmering imagery of water and light, and her ability to address the essential loneliness of the human condition with assured, muted storytelling."
NPR Books We Love — 2013 · apps.npr.org