by SiddharthDhanvantShanghvi (Author)
Set in colonial India, 'The Last Song of Dusk' follows the fortunes of Anuradha, whose fabled beauty is such that the peacocks of Udaipur gather to bid her farewell as she journeys to meet her groom, Vardhmaan, in Bombay. Anuradha's bittersweet story intertwines with that of her cousin Nandini - a seductive orphan with a dark heart, a penchant for panthers and an extraordinary gift for painting - and with the secret history and slow-burning revenge of a house. Written in technicolour, Bollywood prose, this is a magical piece of storytelling; a novel that pirouettes between laughter and heartbreak, which will appeal to all fans of Joanne Harris, Isabel Allende and Arundhati Roy.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 25 Mar 2004
ISBN 10: 0297848828
ISBN 13: 9780297848820
Book Overview: 'The Last Song of Dusk' is a sparkling and refreshingly original take on the 'Indian' novel. Full of enchantment and gloriously drawn characters it blends magic with history (both Gandhi and Virginia Woolf make cameo appearances), it has a Bollywood sense of over-the-topness, and its love story is undercut by an ironic sense of humour. It's also very sexy ... Translation rights have been sold at heated auctions in France (to Entre deux Terres), Germany (to Rowohlt) and Italy. The novel will be published by Penguin India in April 2004. The author is young, charismatic and exceedingly promotable (in his twenty six years, he has been a professional dog exhibitor (!), a chef, and feature writer for 'Elle' India). He will be in the UK for publication, and he has great media connections. The successes of 'Death of Vishnu' and 'Brick Lane' show that the appetite for novels about India and Indian issues is as strong as ever. And Joanne Harris continues to prove that there is an enormous demand for novels that blend magic and surrealism with tales of love and family.