The Inheritance of Loss

Wow, it’s been a while since I posted.  Truth be told- I was sick with Lyme disease.  There are some great Lyme books out there, but right now I’m going to talk about a good piece of fiction:  The Inheritance of Loss by Kirin Desai.

I chose to take this book home based on the name of the author, which I think is beautiful.  But I found the book is beautiful too, and sad, and transporting.  It takes place in the Kalimpong section of India near the Himilayan region. A young orphaned girl, really maybe nearly a woman, is sent to live with her retired, reclusive for less grandfather. 

 The book starts off with a robbery and a description of how their once wealthly house and manor, Cho Oyu, is falling apart: leaking roof, few possessions of worth, little outside contact.  The young woman, Sai, falls in love with her tutor who joins revolutionary forces and becomed disgusted with the Western influences to Sai and grandfather.  The tutor betrays Sai’s family by disclosing their possession of several antique guns and liquor which are robbed. 

 A parallel story follows Biju, the grandfather’s cook’s son who is working in restaurants, illegally in Manhattan.  He winds up working at an Indian restaurant for less than minimum wage, sleeping on the tables at night.  After suffering a crippling accident he returns home with all the riches his small savings can garner.  On his way to Kalimpong, he is robbed and left penniless and naked.  This is how he arrives at Cho Oyu and you can’t help but wonder if Biju and Sai become a couple.

 Some of the wonderful things about this book are the relationships of the people which although foreign to me because of cultural differences, feel so tangible.  In addition, the scenery is vivid, the swelling forest around Kalimpong, the wet dripping weather, the hot flashes of social unrest.  At certain points reading the Indian English, I was actually hearing Indian voices in my head.

 If you want an escape that’s not too uplifting, I recommend.