A review by nehaanna
The Magnificent Ruins by Nayantara Roy

emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you ever wanted to know just how messy land/property disputes are after a patriarch’s death in India, this is the book for you. Coupled with all the inner workings of a multi-generational cycle of trauma, emotional abuse, misogyny, and violence, there are all the ingredients you need to describe a dysfunctional Indian family. The layers of dysfunction, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, passive aggressivity, and betrayal in this novel were not just messy but in an odd way validating for me to read. It feels like almost every Indian person I know has a dysfunctional family unit and a contentious relationship with one or both of their parents. And at a time when my personal life and relationships with my parents are at a massive turning point, this work felt like a comfort to me.

It makes sense that the author used to be with screenwriter for a major television company in the UK and India, as this novel has some of the Indian melodrama I would see in the soaps that my grandmother still watches to this day.
There’s familial drama, extramarital affairs, gossip, backbiting, flashbacks to the past, murder, political intrigue, and more.
There were parts of this novel where I struggled a bit to keep focused as the story seems to stretch a bit into waxing poetic or reflecting too long on the past, but looking back on it I can say that overall I found it necessary for the plot. While there is no happy ending and the major conflict between mothers and daughters is not fully resolved, there is at least an attempt on both sides to try and rectify a generations long cycle of abuse and trauma. And I think that perhaps is the most realistic picture of life one can hope for.
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