"The Lowland" by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Call Number: FICTION Lahiri
Two brothers bound by tragedy. A fiercely brilliant woman haunted by her past. A country torn by revolution. A love that lasts long past death. An extraordinary new novel, set in both India and America, that expands the scope and range of one of our most dazzling storytellers: the best-selling author of The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth. Born just fifteen months apart, Subhash and Udayan Mitra are inseparable brothers, one often mistaken for the other in the Calcutta neighborhood where they grow up. But they are also opposites, with gravely different futures ahead. It is the 1960s, and Udayan--charismatic and impulsive--finds himself drawn to the Naxalite movement, a rebellion waged to eradicate inequity and poverty; he will give everything, risk all, for what he believes. Subhash, the dutiful son, does not share his brother's political passion; he leaves home to pursue a life of scientific research in a quiet, coastal corner of America.

*ebook & audiobook on Libby

How does Lahiri use the setting of 1960s and 1970s India, particularly the political backdrop of the Naxalite movement, to explore the themes of revolution and its impact on individuals and families?
Discuss the significance of the lowland in the novel's title and its metaphorical representation throughout the story. How does it relate to the characters' experiences and the themes of stagnation and transformation?
Explore the complex relationship between Subhash and Udayan. How does their dynamic evolve over the course of the novel, and what does it reveal about the nature of sibling bonds and personal sacrifice?
Analyze the character of Gauri and her role as both a wife and a mother. How does her pursuit of personal fulfillment and independence challenge traditional gender roles and societal expectations?
Discuss the themes of displacement and belonging in the novel, particularly in relation to the characters' experiences of migration and cultural identity. How do Subhash and Bela navigate their sense of belonging in different countries and cultures?
Explore the motif of parenthood and its various manifestations throughout the novel. How do different characters grapple with the responsibilities and complexities of parenthood, and what does it reveal about the nature of familial bonds?
Discuss the significance of the choices made by the characters, especially Subhash and Gauri, and how these choices shape their lives and relationships. How do their decisions reflect larger themes of agency, responsibility, and consequence?
Consider the role of memory and storytelling in the novel. How do memories, both individual and collective, shape the characters' identities and influence their perceptions of the past, present, and future?
Reflect on the themes of forgiveness and reconciliation in the novel. How do the characters navigate their relationships in the aftermath of betrayal, loss, and trauma?
How does Lahiri use language and imagery to evoke a sense of place and atmosphere in the novel? Discuss the significance of the novel's descriptive passages and their impact on the reader's experience.

Jhumpa Lahiri is an acclaimed American author known for her works of fiction exploring themes of identity, belonging, and the immigrant experience. She was born Nilanjana Sudeshna Lahiri on July 11, 1967, in London, England, to Bengali Indian parents who had immigrated to the United States. Her family moved to the United States when she was just two years old, and Lahiri grew up in Rhode Island.

Lahiri completed her undergraduate studies at Barnard College in New York City, where she received a bachelor's degree in English literature. She then pursued graduate studies in creative writing, earning multiple degrees including an M.A. in English, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and a Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies from Boston University.

Her writing career began with the publication of her debut short story collection, "Interpreter of Maladies," in 1999, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000. The collection explores the lives of Indian and Indian-American characters navigating cultural displacement, family dynamics, and the search for connection. The success of "Interpreter of Maladies" catapulted Lahiri to literary fame and garnered widespread critical acclaim.

Following the success of her debut, Lahiri published her first novel, "The Namesake," in 2003, which was later adapted into a film directed by Mira Nair. The novel tells the story of the Ganguli family, exploring themes of generational conflict, cultural identity, and the immigrant experience in America.

In 2008, Lahiri released her second collection of short stories, "Unaccustomed Earth," which also received critical acclaim and was a finalist for the Story Prize. The collection continues Lahiri's exploration of themes related to family, identity, and the immigrant experience, focusing on characters of Bengali descent.

In addition to her fiction writing, Lahiri has also penned essays and articles for various publications, exploring topics such as language, identity, and the creative process. She has taught creative writing at Boston University and has served as a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

Lahiri's works have been translated into numerous languages and have earned her several awards and honors, including the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and a National Humanities Medal. Her writing is celebrated for its poignant exploration of the complexities of cultural identity and the immigrant experience, as well as its elegant prose and nuanced characterizations.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Call Number: FICTION Adiga
Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.

*ebook & audiobook on Libby
*audiobook on hoopla
The River of Kings by Taylor Brown
Call Number: FICTION Brown
In The River of Kings, bestselling author of Fallen Land Taylor Brown artfully weaves three narrative strands--two brothers' journey down an ancient river, their father's tangled past, and the buried history of the river's earliest people--to evoke a legendary place and its powerful hold on the human imagination. The Altamaha River, Georgia's "Little Amazon," is one of the last truly wild places in America. Crossed by roads only five times in its 137 miles, the black-water river is home to thousand-year-old virgin cypress, direct descendants of eighteenth-century Highland warriors, and a staggering array of rare and endangered species. The Altamaha is even rumored to harbor its own river monster, as well as traces of the oldest European fort in North America. Brothers Hunter and Lawton Loggins set off to kayak the river, bearing their father's ashes toward the sea. Hunter is a college student, Lawton a Navy SEAL on leave; they were raised by an angry, enigmatic shrimper who loved the river, and whose death remains a mystery that his sons are determined to solve. As the brothers proceed downriver, their story alternates with that of Jacques le Moyne, the first European artist in North America, who accompanied a 1564 French expedition that beganas a search for riches and ended in a bloody confrontation with Spanish conquistadors and native tribes. Twining past and present in one compelling narrative, and illustrated with drawings that survived the 1564 expedition, The River of Kings is Taylor Brown's second novel: a dramatic and rewarding adventure through history, myth, and the shadows of family secrets.
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob
Call Number: FICTION Jacob
With depth, heart, and agility, debut novelist Mira Jacob takes us on a deftly plotted journey that ranges from 1970s India to suburban 1980s New Mexico to Seattle during the dot.com boom. The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing is an epic, irreverent testimony to the bonds of love, the pull of hope, and the power of making peace with life's uncertainties. Celebrated brain surgeon Thomas Eapen has been sitting on his porch, talking to dead relatives. At least that is the story his wife, Kamala, prone to exaggeration, tells their daughter, Amina, a photographer living in Seattle. Reluctantly Amina returns home and finds a situation that is far more complicated than her mother let on, with roots in a trip the family, including Amina's rebellious brother Akhil, took to India twenty years earlier. Confronted by Thomas's unwillingness to explain himself, strange looks from the hospital staff, and a series of puzzling items buried in her mother's garden, Amina soon realizes that the only way she can help her father is by coming to terms with her family's painful past. In doing so, she must reckon with the ghosts that haunt all of the Eapens.
If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim
Call Number: FICTION Kim
An emotionally riveting debut novel about war, family, and forbidden love--the unforgettable saga of two ill-fated lovers in Korea and the heartbreaking choices they're forced to make in the years surrounding the civil war that still haunts us today. When the communist-backed army from the north invades her home, sixteen-year-old Haemi Lee, along with her widowed mother and ailing brother, is forced to flee to a refugee camp along the coast. For a few hours each night, she escapes her family's makeshift home and tragic circumstances with her childhood friend, Kyunghwan. Focused on finishing school, Kyunghwan doesn't realize his older and wealthier cousin, Jisoo, has his sights set on the beautiful and spirited Haemi--and is determined to marry her before joining the fight. But as Haemi becomes a wife, then a mother, her decision to forsake the boy she always loved for the security of her family sets off a dramatic saga that will have profound effects for generations to come. Richly told and deeply moving, If You Leave Me is a stunning portrait of war and refugee life, a passionate and timeless romance, and a heartrending exploration of one woman's longing for autonomy in a rapidly changing world.
Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li
Call Number: FICTION Li
When Moran, Ruyu, and Boyang were young, they were involved in a mysterious "accident" in which a friend of theirs was poisoned. Grown up, the three friends are separated by distance and personal estrangement. Moran and Ruyu live in the United States, Boyang in China; all three are haunted by what really happened in their youth, and by doubt about themselves. In California, Ruyu helps a local woman care for her family and home, and avoids entanglements, as she has done all her life. In Wisconsin, Moran visits her ex-husband, whose kindness once overcame her flight into solitude. In Beijing, Boyang struggles to deal with an inability to love, and with the outcome of what happened among the three friends 20 years ago.

Islington Branch Book Club - Past Titles: "The Lowland" by Jhumpa Lahiri

"The Lowland" by Jhumpa Lahiri

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