WINNER OF THE 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE
A playful, feminist, and utterly original epic set in contemporary
northern India, about a family and the inimitable octogenarian
matriarch at its heart.
“A tale tells itself. It can be complete, but also incomplete, the
way all tales are. This particular tale has a border and women who
come and go as they please. Once you’ve got women and a border, a
story can write itself . . .”
Eighty-year-old Ma slips into a deep depression after the death of
her husband. Despite her family’s cajoling, she refuses to leave
her bed. Her responsible eldest son, Bade, and dutiful,
Reebok-sporting daughter-in-law, Bahu, attend to Ma’s every need,
while her favorite grandson, the cheerful and gregarious Sid, tries
to lift her spirits with his guitar. But it is only after Sid’s
younger brother—Serious Son, a young man pathologically incapable
of laughing—brings his grandmother a sparkling golden cane covered
with butterflies that things begin to change.
With a new lease on life thanks to the cane’s seemingly magical
powers, Ma gets out of bed and embarks on a series of adventures that
baffle even her unconventional feminist daughter, Beti. She ditches
her cumbersome saris, develops a close friendship with a hijra, and
sets off on a fateful journey that will turn the family’s
understanding of themselves upside down.
Rich with fantastical elements, folklore, and exuberant wordplay,
Geetanjali Shree’s magnificent novel explores timely and timeless
topics, including Buddhism, global warming, feminism, Partition,
gender binary, transcending borders, and the profound joys of life.
Elegant, heartbreaking, and funny, it is a literary masterpiece that
marks the American debut of an extraordinary writer.
Translated from the Hindi by Daisy Rockwell
Author’s name pronounced: Ghee-TAHN-juh-lee Shree