A review by lindserature
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“The most important character in every person’s life is the thing that they lack.”

This is the story of an old woman’s journey through the depression that accompanies major loss in her life. (The summary will tell you that her recovery is thanks to a magical cane, but I found this to be a surprisingly insignificant part of the story.) She recovers in the home of her unconventional daughter and forges a friendship with a joyful person, ending the story with a journey that will shape the lives of all those around her. 

I had a lot of trouble with the first section. Shree’s writing (or maybe Rockwell’s translation?) is meandering and disconnected, which makes it extremely difficult to follow; I found myself reading a paragraph and not understanding where the topic switched, or how we got there, or what exactly happened, and multiple readings did nothing to ease my confusion. But despite the same issues persisting (to a lesser extent), the second and third sections of this book are stronger. I enjoyed the characters and their journeys, and much of the writing is jarring and profound. I do think that, at least for me, the editing could have been tighter, but overall, this is a compelling story. Three stars.