New World, A

Amit Chaudhuri’s highly acclaimed novel now in a new superbly designed paperback format. Selling Points: Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award. ‘He has as much of life in each of his books as many of his contemporaries will capture in an entire career reading some of these passages, you can be reminded of reading Joyce’s Dubliners for the first time, where every sentence can seem like a small act of beauty.’—Observer. ‘A masterpiece’—Pankaj Mishra.The Book: A year after his divorce, Jayojit Chatterjee, an economics professor in the American Midwest, travels home to Calcutta with his young son, Bonny, to spend the summer holidays with his parents. Jayojit is no more accustomed to spending time alone with Bonny–who lives with his mother in California–than he is with the Admiral and his wife, whose daily rhythms have become so synchronized as to become completely foreign to their son. Together, the unlikely foursome struggles to pass the protracted hours of summer, each in his or her own way mourning Jayojit’s failed marriage. Written with depth and tenderness, A New World goes right to the heart of a family, making vividly alive their hopes, desires and regrets. Read more