Starred review from November 29, 2021
Journalist Bhanoo’s stunning debut collection spotlights women who navigate comfortable but often stifling cultural traditions while pursuing new-world promises. In the O. Henry Prize–winning “Malliga Homes,” a recent widow’s daughter insists her mother move into a retirement facility in Tamil Nadu. The narrator’s daughter, Kamala, left India years earlier for college in Atlanta, and Kamala’s increasingly infrequent visits sadden and anger the narrator. In a perfectly apt metaphor for families caught between staying and going, the narrator pauses at dusk to admire a set of oleander shrubs: “Some of the flowers are stuck on one side while others, by sheer luck, fall to the other.” In “No. 16 Model House Road,” wife Latha and husband Muthu live in a house in Bangalore that Muthu’s deceased aunt had left to him. A developer wants to demolish the house for a high rise, and Muthu wants to sell it in order to travel, but Latha sees the house as “a memory box of her life.” Defying tradition, she stands firm in her opposition to Muthu with a “winning feeling” when, in signing a contract to remodel the house, her hand is “steady and sure.” In these and other stories, Bhanoo finds novel ways for her protagonists to cope with adversity. Growing apart from the past, rather than crushing their spirit and individuality, brings them freedom and hope for the future. This introduces a great new talent. Agent: Jin Auh, Wylie Agency. (Feb.)Correction: An earlier version of this review misspelled the character Muthu's name.
June 10, 2024
What does it mean to leave a familiar life for a new and uncertain future? And what happens when that life doesn't turn out as expected? Exploring the lives of South Indian immigrants and their families, O. Henry Prize winner Bhanoo's debut short story collection begs the answers to these questions as it takes readers from Washington State to Pittsburgh to Tamil Nadu. In "Malliga Homes," a widow reckons with the death of a fellow resident in her retirement home while awaiting a visit from her only child, who lives in the United States. "A Life in America" follows a college professor being investigated for taking advantage of his Indian graduate students. In "Buddymoon," a divorced woman attends the wedding of her estranged daughter and wonders what was lost--for both her and her daughters--when she chose a different path following her divorce. Narrator Soneela Nankani provides an expressive performance, capturing the wit, spirit, and grit of women carving out new lives for themselves. VERDICT These complicated, layered stories, narrated with heart and empathy, lay bare the challenges of starting life anew. Listeners will look forward to more from the talented Bhanoo.--Whitney Bates-Gomez
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