Take a photo of a barcode or cover
graywacke 's review for:
Western Lane
by Chetna Maroo
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Storygraph needs a category for " This book would be for someone who is in the mood for something poetic, or with rhythmic hypnotic prose". Maybe that's asking too much.
An unassuming novel on a grieving family of Jains in England. Jains are an Indian religious group akin to Hinduism, Sikhism, and even Buddhism. Their religious emphasis is non-violence and vegetarianism, none of which plays a direct role in the story. But the father takes pains to let his Pakistani friend know they are Jains, and so, different.
Sorry, where was I? The family is a dad and three very close sisters grieving over the recent loss of their mother. Her death hit the whole family hard and they try to make do. Dad is an electrician, so he has income but is impoverished. The older girls pick up some chores. And then Dad gets them into Squash, more and more, eventually several hours a day. But while the older girls slowly back out of this training, the youngest daughter embraces it, taking the sounds and rhythms of the play and the game and it's strategies. She and her watch the best squash players on a video cassette and discuss them. She is 11.
The entire book revolves around her world of squash, and her family's grieving. And while i know to look for the rhythm, as didn't find it at first. It was just a book. And I set is aside a few days, then picked it up a four-hour flight. I found myself deeply into it before I notice the prose rhythms behind it. Yes, it's a nice story. But the telling is captivating. I got emotional in all the emotional spots. I fully bought in, sometimes slowing myself down so I could remember the reading, instead of the rush to finish. I was sad to finish.
An unassuming novel on a grieving family of Jains in England. Jains are an Indian religious group akin to Hinduism, Sikhism, and even Buddhism. Their religious emphasis is non-violence and vegetarianism, none of which plays a direct role in the story. But the father takes pains to let his Pakistani friend know they are Jains, and so, different.
Sorry, where was I? The family is a dad and three very close sisters grieving over the recent loss of their mother. Her death hit the whole family hard and they try to make do. Dad is an electrician, so he has income but is impoverished. The older girls pick up some chores. And then Dad gets them into Squash, more and more, eventually several hours a day. But while the older girls slowly back out of this training, the youngest daughter embraces it, taking the sounds and rhythms of the play and the game and it's strategies. She and her watch the best squash players on a video cassette and discuss them. She is 11.
The entire book revolves around her world of squash, and her family's grieving. And while i know to look for the rhythm, as didn't find it at first. It was just a book. And I set is aside a few days, then picked it up a four-hour flight. I found myself deeply into it before I notice the prose rhythms behind it. Yes, it's a nice story. But the telling is captivating. I got emotional in all the emotional spots. I fully bought in, sometimes slowing myself down so I could remember the reading, instead of the rush to finish. I was sad to finish.