THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT by Tarquin Hall. Simon and Schuster, 2009. Hardcover. 310 pages. $24. Tarquin Hall writes about private detecting in India in the same way that Alexander McCall Smith writes about it in Botswana: with great warmth, humor and a bit of...
A Charming Tale, Tenderly Told THE MARRIAGE BUREAU FOR RICH PEOPLE by Farahad Zama. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2009. Hardcover, 293 pages. $24.95. There is something about the way that Farahad Zama imbues his characters with warmth and empathy that makes you want to see...
THE MUSIC ROOM by Namita Devidayal. St. Martin’s Press, 2009. Hardcover. 310 pages. $24.95 Kennedy Bridge, described by Namita Devidayal in her poignant memoir as a “neighborhood known for prostitute’s and gentlemen’s clubs,” must have been a shock to the well-bred...
THE TOSS OF A LEMON by Padma Viswanathan. Harcourt. Hardcover. 619 pages. $26. Padma Viswanathan was inspired by her own family history, specifically the stories told to her by her grandmother, to write the saga of a Brahmin family. Her novel, The Toss of a Lemon,...
A GOOD INDIAN WIFE: A NOVEL by Anne Cherian. W. W. Norton and Company: May 2008. Hardcover. 320 pages. $23.95 Many works of Indian fiction published in the past seven years have been derivative. Of itself, that is. And yet I was still surprised to discover that A Good...
