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A review by martha_is_reading
The One Who Wrote Destiny by Nikesh Shukla
5.0
A beautiful, beautiful novel from the author of [b:Coconut Unlimited|9586134|Coconut Unlimited|Nikesh Shukla|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328645105s/9586134.jpg|14473086] and the man who brought us [b:The Good Immigrant|28668534|The Good Immigrant|Nikesh Shukla|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1471514680s/28668534.jpg|48857467].
Mukesh has left his home in Kenya and found himself in Keighley, over 200 miles away from the London he thought he would be living in. He meets and instantly falls in love with Nisha, a young woman who knows she is dying. Fast forward to Neha and Rakesh, their twin children. Neha is dying from the disease inherited from a mother she has never met; while Rakesh is trying to fulfil his destiny as a comedian. The novel finishes with Ba, the twin's grandmother; who, after surviving her husband and children, has returned to Kenya, alienated by a Britain that only offered her racism and violence.
There is this bittersweet sadness that runs through the novel that I found utterly absorbing (and resulted in two separate incidents of crying on the tube). Mukesh is obsessed with his dead wife, who he was destined to meet but lost far too soon. Neha is fixated on understanding the pattern of the deaths in her family while processing the imminence of her own. Rakesh is driven by the hope of fulfilling his own destiny as a performer and comedian, while processing the loss of his twin. I fell hard for these characters, particularly Neha and Rakesh, and did not want the story to end.
I felt that Shukla struck a perfect balance between real life and mysticism by showing the reality of racism while still giving the characters hope for a better destiny. Without the latter, the book could have become unbearably melancholy (when in fact there were a number of funny, heartwarming moments) and the combination also perfectly illustrated the point that ingrained racism in society means that British BAME people are unable to fully write their own destinies. Assimilation into the predetermined mould of "The Good Immigrant" is demanded and deviation is punished.
One of the most interesting parts of the novel was when we focused on Rakesh. I found it interesting that Shukla chose first-person narratives for the other main characters, while Raks' story is told through the lens of the secondary characters he interacts with. It actually made me love Raks more because I could see how sad he was but he was always one step removed so I was never allowed to fully know him.
A beautiful, heartbreaking novel about family, loss and destiny that I would highly recommend.
Thank you to Atlantic Books for providing me with an advance copy via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review
Mukesh has left his home in Kenya and found himself in Keighley, over 200 miles away from the London he thought he would be living in. He meets and instantly falls in love with Nisha, a young woman who knows she is dying. Fast forward to Neha and Rakesh, their twin children. Neha is dying from the disease inherited from a mother she has never met; while Rakesh is trying to fulfil his destiny as a comedian. The novel finishes with Ba, the twin's grandmother; who, after surviving her husband and children, has returned to Kenya, alienated by a Britain that only offered her racism and violence.
There is this bittersweet sadness that runs through the novel that I found utterly absorbing (and resulted in two separate incidents of crying on the tube). Mukesh is obsessed with his dead wife, who he was destined to meet but lost far too soon. Neha is fixated on understanding the pattern of the deaths in her family while processing the imminence of her own. Rakesh is driven by the hope of fulfilling his own destiny as a performer and comedian, while processing the loss of his twin. I fell hard for these characters, particularly Neha and Rakesh, and did not want the story to end.
I felt that Shukla struck a perfect balance between real life and mysticism by showing the reality of racism while still giving the characters hope for a better destiny. Without the latter, the book could have become unbearably melancholy (when in fact there were a number of funny, heartwarming moments) and the combination also perfectly illustrated the point that ingrained racism in society means that British BAME people are unable to fully write their own destinies. Assimilation into the predetermined mould of "The Good Immigrant" is demanded and deviation is punished.
One of the most interesting parts of the novel was when we focused on Rakesh. I found it interesting that Shukla chose first-person narratives for the other main characters, while Raks' story is told through the lens of the secondary characters he interacts with. It actually made me love Raks more because I could see how sad he was but he was always one step removed so I was never allowed to fully know him.
A beautiful, heartbreaking novel about family, loss and destiny that I would highly recommend.
Thank you to Atlantic Books for providing me with an advance copy via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review