by Avni Doshi
First published 2021
Antara's childhood was chaos. Her mother Tara defied social expectations, abandoning her husband and middle-class security to pursue an unconventional life. Together they begged on streets and lived with a failed artist. Tara's rebellious choices shaped Antara's unstable upbringing, marked by her mother's whims and disregard for convention. Now Tara's mind is failing. Antara, now an adult, must become caregiver to the woman who never truly cared for her. The role reversal forces Antara to confront their complicated history while Tara loses her grip on reality. Doshi examines the tangled bonds between mothers and daughters, revealing how family ties can simultaneously unite and divide. The novel explores the cost women pay when they choose themselves over societal expectations, showing how personal freedom can devastate those closest to them.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: role-reversal, unreliable-narrator
Setting: India
Period: contemporary
352 pages · Paperback · Edicions de 1984
Content warnings: mental-illness