Ann's Reviews > Family Matters

This wonderful work has everything a reader could wish for in a novel about a family. Set in Bombay in the 90’s, the main characters consist of three generations of a Parsi family. The eldest family member (grandfather/father) suffers from Parkinson’s, and a significant theme in the novel relates to caring for our elderly, sick family members at home. Any reader who has taken a significant role in aging parental care will fully recognize the burdens of keeping a sick person fed and cleaned – as well as the joys of sharing remaining time with a loved one and watching the grandchildren learn from the dying person. This novel perfectly portrayed the way these burdens are shared (or not!) in a family. As in any family, in this one there are money issues, with their overt and underlying effects. There are marital relationships full of love and tension. There are children to be raised with kindness and boundaries. There are sibling relationships and in-law relationships, each with its own particular flavor. There are also past family tragedies and related, retained guilt. The family is Parsi, and one benefit of the novel for me was learning about this old and interesting religion. As in any family, some family members are devout, some just practice their religion and some scoff it - - another element of life shared by many families. There is death and there is the continuous stream of life. All these themes and events are extremely well presented through fully drawn, complete characters. This is a novel about all facets of life as expertly portrayed in the hands of a master novelist.