‘A magical, exuberant tragic-comic vision of post-colonial Malaysia reminiscent of Rushdie and Roy. In prose of acrobatic grace, Samarasan conjures a vibrant portrait, by turns intimate and sweeping, of characters and a country coming of age. The debut of a significant, and thrilling new talent.’ Peter Ho DaviesSet in Malaysia, this spellbinding, exuberant first novel introduces us to a prosperous Indian immigrant family, as it slowly peels away its closely guarded secrets.When the family's servant girl, Chellam, is dismissed from the big house for unnamed crimes, it is only the latest in a series of losses that have shaken six-year-old Aasha's life. Her grandmother has passed away under mysterious circumstances and her older sister has disappeared for a new life abroad, with no plans to return. Her parents, meanwhile, seem to be hiding something away – from themselves, and from one another.As the novel tells us the story of the years leading up to these events, we learn what has happened to the hopes and dreams of a family caught up in Malaysia's troubled post-colonial history. What bought the Rajasekharan family to the Big House in Malaysia? What was Chellam's unforgivable crime? Why did the eldest daughter leave the country under strained circumstances? What is Appa – the respectable family patriarch – hiding from his wife and his children?Through this vibrant cast of characters, and through a masterful evocation of the clashes and strains in a country where Malays, Indians and Chinese inhabitants vie for their positions in society, Preeta Samarasan brings us an enthralling saga of one household and the world beyond it.
Оглавление
Preeta Samarasan. Evening Is the Whole Day
EVENING IS THE. WHOLE DAY
CONTENTS
THE IGNOMINIOUS DEPARTURE OF CHELLAMSERVANT DAUGHTER-OF-MUNIANDY
BIG HOUSE BEGINNINGS
THE NECESSARY SACRIFICE OF THE BURDENSOME RELIC
AN OLD-FASHIONED COURTSHIP
THE RECONDITE RETURN OF PAATI THE DISSATISFIED
AFTER GREAT EXPECTATIONS
POWER STRUGGLES
WHAT AASHA SAW
THE FUTILE INCIDENT OF THE SAPPHIRE PENDANT
THE GOD OF GOSSIP CONQUERS THE GARDEN TEMPLE
THE FINAL VISIT OF THE FLEET-FOOTED UNCLE
THE UNLUCKY REVELATION OF CHELLAM NEWSERVANT
WHAT UNCLE BALLROOM SAW
THE GOLDEN DESCENT OF CHELLAM, THE BRINGER OF SUCCOR
THE GLORIOUS ASCENT OF UMA THE OLDEST-ELDEST
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Copyright
About the Publisher
Отрывок из книги
For Mom, Pop, and my brothers, who taught me that words matter
— from Waterland by Graham Swift
.....
“Okay, enough of it,” Amma’d said then, and pushed her chair back so vehemently to leave the table that her tea sloshed onto her saucer. But Uma and Appa had shared a triumphant, twinkling grin, and even Suresh and Aasha had got the joke.
No curtains are stirring at the Manickams’ window three doors down: the former Mrs. Manickam is lying in bed in Kampong Kepayang eating peeled and pitted longans from the hand of her new husband, who leaves the office early every day for this very purpose, and Mr. Manickam is at the office though it’s a Saturday, burying his sorrows in work as usual.
