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A review by libraryofcalliope
Fragile Monsters by Catherine Menon
4.0
"'Oh, Durga' she says. 'All this mathematics, isn't it? Always wanting for it to be right, instead of true.'"
This book was a fascinating read. What starts as a visit to Durga's grandmother for Diwali ends in a dual narrative exposing not only the Malaysian political landscape of most of the 20th Century but also buried memories coming to light. Set between the 1920s and the 1980s, the novel covers a lot of ground. Both Durga and her grandmother, Mary, have skeletons in their closet and while Durga chose to cope by moving to Canada for ten years, Mary chooses to cloak them in myth and storytelling. While Durga has pursued a career in scholarship and mathematics, Mary is a storyteller and somewhat unpleasant old women. I found the story to be highly engaging and interesting both for political insight and internal narrative. It is a heavy book with themes explored that are difficult and hard to read but I think largely they are done well. Some of the treatment of Mary's servant, Karthika, was a little insensitive, particularly the way her character was portrayed but the story is from the perspective of Durga who isn't entirely a lovely person. It definitely prompted me to lookup more about Malaysian history, especially during World War Two as it isn't an area I know much about.
Thank you very much to Penguin General UK and NetGalley for this ARC!
This book was a fascinating read. What starts as a visit to Durga's grandmother for Diwali ends in a dual narrative exposing not only the Malaysian political landscape of most of the 20th Century but also buried memories coming to light. Set between the 1920s and the 1980s, the novel covers a lot of ground. Both Durga and her grandmother, Mary, have skeletons in their closet and while Durga chose to cope by moving to Canada for ten years, Mary chooses to cloak them in myth and storytelling. While Durga has pursued a career in scholarship and mathematics, Mary is a storyteller and somewhat unpleasant old women. I found the story to be highly engaging and interesting both for political insight and internal narrative. It is a heavy book with themes explored that are difficult and hard to read but I think largely they are done well. Some of the treatment of Mary's servant, Karthika, was a little insensitive, particularly the way her character was portrayed but the story is from the perspective of Durga who isn't entirely a lovely person. It definitely prompted me to lookup more about Malaysian history, especially during World War Two as it isn't an area I know much about.
Thank you very much to Penguin General UK and NetGalley for this ARC!