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A review by poojasinghco
Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi
4.0
"We raise our heads to the sky as if the sea was a window and we were climbing out of it."
- Tisha Doshani, Small Days and Nights.
🌊
Having had a normal childhood, born to parents of Italian and Indian descent, Grace finds herself in a small coastal village of Paramankeni, running away from her failed marriage and having found her sister, Lucia who was born with Down's syndrome and was kept a secret from her all these years.
🌊
Escaping the restless and highly active social life in States, grace decides to move into her mother's house, with Lucy, the village housekeeper Mallika and little dogs to surround the house.
A story that looks so simple on the surface, turns complicated as one unveils the layers of a life of a single woman living alone without any men in a village in India, by the sea.
🌊
Grace's days are filled with taking care of her sister, feeding the dogs, taking them to the beach and in the process trying to find her lost self, and make meaning of a life she has spent in Madras, Italy, the States, Kodaikanal and now Pondicherry.
But the nights are full of fear and anxiety, for the endless glares and attention a house being lived by a single woman attracts, of someone breaking in, of someone marring the beauty of the life they are trying to build here.
🌊
The prose is absolutely lyrical full of metaphors and analogies, that warms the heart and can be cherished long after one is done reading.
The beautiful description of the sea and the sand, and the nights and the days, and you can almost feel yourself walking on the beach or strolling on the streets of Italy suckling on a gelato.
The writing reminded me of Subhangi Swarup's portrayal of all the alluring landscapes.
🌊
An absolutely marvellous account of a story of survival, or finding one's lost self, making peace with the misgivings of a family, of mistrust and finding trust, unveiling secrets and accepting them.
But above all, it is a tale of the one's self-discovery amongst all the chaos, loneliness, heartbreaks and confusion.
.
.
.
.
A sad yet thought-provoking novel full of life and the various emotions of ecstasy it has to offer.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Genre: contemporary, fiction, indian-literature
Reading Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5
- Tisha Doshani, Small Days and Nights.
🌊
Having had a normal childhood, born to parents of Italian and Indian descent, Grace finds herself in a small coastal village of Paramankeni, running away from her failed marriage and having found her sister, Lucia who was born with Down's syndrome and was kept a secret from her all these years.
🌊
Escaping the restless and highly active social life in States, grace decides to move into her mother's house, with Lucy, the village housekeeper Mallika and little dogs to surround the house.
A story that looks so simple on the surface, turns complicated as one unveils the layers of a life of a single woman living alone without any men in a village in India, by the sea.
🌊
Grace's days are filled with taking care of her sister, feeding the dogs, taking them to the beach and in the process trying to find her lost self, and make meaning of a life she has spent in Madras, Italy, the States, Kodaikanal and now Pondicherry.
But the nights are full of fear and anxiety, for the endless glares and attention a house being lived by a single woman attracts, of someone breaking in, of someone marring the beauty of the life they are trying to build here.
🌊
The prose is absolutely lyrical full of metaphors and analogies, that warms the heart and can be cherished long after one is done reading.
The beautiful description of the sea and the sand, and the nights and the days, and you can almost feel yourself walking on the beach or strolling on the streets of Italy suckling on a gelato.
The writing reminded me of Subhangi Swarup's portrayal of all the alluring landscapes.
🌊
An absolutely marvellous account of a story of survival, or finding one's lost self, making peace with the misgivings of a family, of mistrust and finding trust, unveiling secrets and accepting them.
But above all, it is a tale of the one's self-discovery amongst all the chaos, loneliness, heartbreaks and confusion.
.
.
.
.
A sad yet thought-provoking novel full of life and the various emotions of ecstasy it has to offer.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Genre: contemporary, fiction, indian-literature
Reading Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5