Review: Tomb of Sand

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: A widow decides to take back her life in the era of the partition

This translation breaks a lot of norms of storytelling in the structure and the premise chugging along slowly like a train passing a busy junction before it speeds up in the unknowns through the life of a protagonist who has given up on life as a widow before she gets going on living life like never before - making her seemingly progressive daughter feel conservative. Cutting across taboos, borders and norms, the book is a delightful read during a terrible phase of human life in the Indian subcontinent.

A lot of witty one-liners that you'd expect from your society's granny who has nothing and no one to fear is the vibe you get through the book. There are a multitude of cultural nuances that the author and hence the translator take on providing a unique perspective of partition era for women and their thoughts around the same.

The book takes a while, quite some while to get going but bears fruit to the patience shown and no wonder an award winning book for the same reason.

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