Review: An Atlas of Impossible Longing

An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy

This was a beautifully written book. Such imagery made you feel like you were really there, in Calcutta with Mukunda or across the road at Mrs. Barnum's. This story was told in three different parts, each one by a different person.

The story is difficult at first to delve into, but it will grab you when you start to learn who is who, and when you finally get it you won't want to put it down until the end. The first part we establish a bit about our cast of characters; each one being so unique you can't help but love them all for their differences.

I love books about India and this one taught me a lot of the words I didn't know -- We get to go through the lives of some of the family members, and one "adopted" son whom Amulya had put in a orphanage many years ago to help one of his workers out at the spice factory. Then we get to see through another's eyes, that being Nirmal, Amulya's son. Nirmal got married to Shanti and they had a daughter. However, Shanti didn't get to meet her daughter, her father's house flooded a month before she was due and Shanti passed.

So Bakul, Shanti and Nirmal's daughter never met her mother -- and then you have Mukunda whom is adopted by the family. I think the story lies with these two. Both of them searching through life and trying to find their way.

Fantastic mesmerizing first book! This WILL be an author to keep your eye on!