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loriluo 's review for:
Mother Ocean Father Nation
by Nishant Batsha
"Mother Ocean Father Nation" is a story told from two juxtaposed perspectives of two siblings in the South Pacific Islands in the 1980s: Bhumi, the family's hope and academic standout and her brother, Jaipal, who is framed as the family's black sheep. Their lives are thrown off with the political unrest in their homeland, and after Bhumi makes friends with Aarti, the daughter of a high-level government official, and is mistakenly associated with them, she is expelled from college and forced to leave her home.
We get to see the side-by-side perspectives from Bhumi, as she's forced to begin her life again as an undocumented immigrant in California, facing the prejudices that her race and gender force onto her. Jaipal, as he remains with their parents in the Pacific, also deals with his own inner demons, including coming to terms with his own sexuality and the realities of his relationship with his parents and sister. There are a number of weighty topics of Nishant Batsha handles with care and grace in this novel, and he's managed to portray Bhumi's and Jaipal's perspectives with clarity and kindness.
What I did struggle with at times was the lack of place in the novel; there aren't any specific locations mentioned, aside from "a small island in the Pacific", and even the political figures are vaguely named (ex. "The General"). Perhaps this was intentional, or my own background of history during this time is lacking, but I didn't feel as though there was enough context given to the situation at hand.
Thank you Ecco Press for the advance copy of this novel!
We get to see the side-by-side perspectives from Bhumi, as she's forced to begin her life again as an undocumented immigrant in California, facing the prejudices that her race and gender force onto her. Jaipal, as he remains with their parents in the Pacific, also deals with his own inner demons, including coming to terms with his own sexuality and the realities of his relationship with his parents and sister. There are a number of weighty topics of Nishant Batsha handles with care and grace in this novel, and he's managed to portray Bhumi's and Jaipal's perspectives with clarity and kindness.
What I did struggle with at times was the lack of place in the novel; there aren't any specific locations mentioned, aside from "a small island in the Pacific", and even the political figures are vaguely named (ex. "The General"). Perhaps this was intentional, or my own background of history during this time is lacking, but I didn't feel as though there was enough context given to the situation at hand.
Thank you Ecco Press for the advance copy of this novel!