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A review by chandrew314
Mother Ocean Father Nation by Nishant Batsha
4.0
First of all, thank you Goodreads and Harper Collins for this ARC of an amazing debut novel!
Batsha writes with tenderness and nuance about a family living on a fictional island in the South Pacific. This novel takes place during a politically tumultuous year as a rising nationalist government persecutes the island's non-native Indian communities and chronicles the lives of Bhumi, the high-achieving standout looking to pursue a career in botany, and Jaipal, who is left at home at the whims of his alcoholic father and seeks out transient relationships to fulfill his desires. We get to see the impact of both fault lines in family and social order on the characters as they navigate the effects of the nation's political instability. From this fictional island to the San Francisco Bay Area, Mother Ocean Father Nation is a novel detailing the aftermath of colonialism, the ramifications of prejudice and racism, and the mess that is often family and the struggle between filial piety and independence. However, it touches on other important topics such as trauma, the immigrant experience, and queerness.
While the characters endure horrifying and appalling treatment at the hands of the government and deal with real tragedy, as a reader, I didn't feel much of an emotional connection. There were times of real desperation and loss--but that didn't quite translate to the emotional heft I was hoping for. I wish the internal monologues of the characters had been written with a bit more nuance and subtlety to make their reactions to the events in the novel more gripping. Nevertheless, the cleverness of Batsha's novel comes through in the fact that he weaves themes of his novel in all aspects of the character's lives, such as the observation Bhumi makes on the effects of colonialism on California's native grasses, offering a critique on colonialism through a new perspective while also paralleling the events of the novel. All in all, this was a super relevant read--especially in today's political climate--that explores the tragic effects of political instability and colonialism on peoples and the strength to persevere through hardship.
Batsha writes with tenderness and nuance about a family living on a fictional island in the South Pacific. This novel takes place during a politically tumultuous year as a rising nationalist government persecutes the island's non-native Indian communities and chronicles the lives of Bhumi, the high-achieving standout looking to pursue a career in botany, and Jaipal, who is left at home at the whims of his alcoholic father and seeks out transient relationships to fulfill his desires. We get to see the impact of both fault lines in family and social order on the characters as they navigate the effects of the nation's political instability. From this fictional island to the San Francisco Bay Area, Mother Ocean Father Nation is a novel detailing the aftermath of colonialism, the ramifications of prejudice and racism, and the mess that is often family and the struggle between filial piety and independence. However, it touches on other important topics such as trauma, the immigrant experience, and queerness.
While the characters endure horrifying and appalling treatment at the hands of the government and deal with real tragedy, as a reader, I didn't feel much of an emotional connection. There were times of real desperation and loss--but that didn't quite translate to the emotional heft I was hoping for. I wish the internal monologues of the characters had been written with a bit more nuance and subtlety to make their reactions to the events in the novel more gripping. Nevertheless, the cleverness of Batsha's novel comes through in the fact that he weaves themes of his novel in all aspects of the character's lives, such as the observation Bhumi makes on the effects of colonialism on California's native grasses, offering a critique on colonialism through a new perspective while also paralleling the events of the novel. All in all, this was a super relevant read--especially in today's political climate--that explores the tragic effects of political instability and colonialism on peoples and the strength to persevere through hardship.