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A review by pantsyreads
The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S. Laskar
4.0
After the police raid her home and she's shot, the protagonist (simply called The Mother) finds herself reflecting on her life and everything that led her to that moment. Briefly following her upbringing and focusing on her married life in the American South, The Atlas of Reds and Blues chronicles the racism The Mother faces being a 2nd generation American to Bengali immigrant parents.
I enjoyed this novel a lot more than I initially thought I would. It piqued my interest because the autobiographical aspect (the author was the victim of a baseless police raid) and I'm always interested in #ownvoices novels, especially from WPOC. However, I've had a lot of hit-and-miss reading experiences with literary fiction and I was wary that the experimental writing style would be off-putting.
However, I'm happy to say that the writing style is really what made this a winner for me. I've discovered from reading other reviews that Laskar is also a published poet and it's evident in her prose. I listened to this on audio and the narrator did an amazing job of reading Laskar's stylized prose, giving it a beautiful cadence and rhythm.
There's not much of a plot--the story is focused on shining a light on the second generation immigration experience and how this affects the main character. There's a focus on motherhood (probably evident, given that the MC's only referred to as The Mother) and I liked how Laskar compares/contrasts The Mother's experience growing up with her children's (spoiler: there's not much of a difference at all). The blatant racism The Mother experiences is in equal parts enraging, baffling, and almost unbelievable (but you know it's not and you know it happens). While there's not much plot, there is a lot of meat to the story. It's short, but affecting.
This is one of the standout books I've read this year. I hope Laskar continues to publish fiction titles and I look forward to see what she comes out with next.
I enjoyed this novel a lot more than I initially thought I would. It piqued my interest because the autobiographical aspect (the author was the victim of a baseless police raid) and I'm always interested in #ownvoices novels, especially from WPOC. However, I've had a lot of hit-and-miss reading experiences with literary fiction and I was wary that the experimental writing style would be off-putting.
However, I'm happy to say that the writing style is really what made this a winner for me. I've discovered from reading other reviews that Laskar is also a published poet and it's evident in her prose. I listened to this on audio and the narrator did an amazing job of reading Laskar's stylized prose, giving it a beautiful cadence and rhythm.
There's not much of a plot--the story is focused on shining a light on the second generation immigration experience and how this affects the main character. There's a focus on motherhood (probably evident, given that the MC's only referred to as The Mother) and I liked how Laskar compares/contrasts The Mother's experience growing up with her children's (spoiler: there's not much of a difference at all). The blatant racism The Mother experiences is in equal parts enraging, baffling, and almost unbelievable (but you know it's not and you know it happens). While there's not much plot, there is a lot of meat to the story. It's short, but affecting.
This is one of the standout books I've read this year. I hope Laskar continues to publish fiction titles and I look forward to see what she comes out with next.