A review by boxcar
Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Almost gave up on this one. It starts painstakingly slow. By the end I was so engrossed in the family, the relationships and strife that I felt like i understood each of them, empathized with them. Reminds me of Brothers Karamazov, three siblings with different personalities that bicker and love and carry the narrative through their deep characterizations and relationships. So very relatable was the pent up misgivings from the distant past, the inability to let go a perceived slight, the hesitation to apologize, the different perspectives and understanding that comes with age. I wish I could give it a better rating, and I suppose I could. But the start really was a drag, no two ways about it.