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Ret Smadhi
725 pages
A kaleidoscopic, boundary-defying epic where an octogenarian's profound grief unexpectedly blossoms into a joyous, irreverent rebellion.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like watching a heavy, gray cloud suddenly burst into a shower of vibrant, kaleidoscopic confetti. It begins in the suffocating stillness of deep depression, moving at a deliberate crawl that mirrors its protagonist's grief, before unexpectedly shaking off its lethargy to become something wildly expansive and free. The narrative is gloriously meandering, taking joyful detours through the perspectives of crows, doors, and shifting borders, all rendered in prose that dances with exuberant wordplay and rhythmic energy. It is a deeply philosophical yet irreverent experience, blurring the lines between past and present, human and animal, tragedy and comedy. This is a book for those who love sprawling, unconventional epics that demand you surrender to their unique, magical cadence.
- Mood
- kaleidoscopic
- surreal
- vibrant
- melancholic
- Tone
- playful
- irreverent
- philosophical
- exuberant
- wry
- Pace
- meandering
- Themes
- fluidity of identity · weight of borders · reinvention in old age · generational friction · historical trauma
- The writing
- Endlessly inventive and digressive, the prose dances with exuberant wordplay, rhythmic cadences, and a joyful disregard for conventional structure.
- The arc
- The journey begins in the heavy, suffocating depths of grief before bursting outward into a joyous, boundary-breaking liberation.
- Who it's for
- Readers who delight in sprawling, linguistically playful epics that blur the lines between reality, memory, and myth.
Content notes
- grief and depression
- death of a spouse
- historical trauma
About the book
In northern India, an 80-year-old woman slips into a deep depression at the death of her husband, then resurfaces to gain a new lease of life. Her determination to fly in the face of convention confuses her bohemian daughter, who is used to thinking of herself as the more ‘modern’ of the two. To her family’s consternation, Ma then insists on travelling to Pakistan, confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of Partition. Despite its serious themes, Geetanjali Shree’s light touch and exuberant wordplay ensures that Tomb of Sand remains constantly playful - and utterly original.
Description from Open Library.
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