Nikita  Lalwani
In her award-winning debut novel, ,Gifted,, Nikita Lalwani crafted a brilliant coming-of-age story that â€œ[called] to mind the work of such novelists as Zadie Smith and Monica Aliâ€ (,The Washington Post Book World,). Now Lalwani turns her gimlet eye on an extraordinary village in India, and explores the thin boundary between morality and evil, innocence and guilt., Â , After a long trip from London, twenty-seven-year-old BBC filmmaker Ray Bhullar arrives at the remote Indian village of Ashwer, which will be the subject of her newest documentary. From the outside, the town projects a cozy air of domesticityâ€”small huts bordering earthen paths, men lounging and drinking tea, women guiding bright cloth through noisy sewing machines. Yet Ashwer is far from traditional. It is an experimental open prison, a village of convicted murderers and their families., Â , As Ray and her crew settle in, they seek to win the trust of Ashwerâ€™s residents and administrators: Nandini, a womenâ€™s counselor and herself an inmate; Jyoti, a prisonerâ€™s wife who is raising her children on the grounds; Sujay, the progressive founder and governor of the society. Ray aims to portray Ashwer as a model of tolerance, yet the longer she and her colleagues stay, the more their need for a dramatic story line intensifies. And as Rayâ€™s moral judgment competes with her professional obligation, her assignment takes an uneasy and disturbing turn., Â , Incisive, moving, and superbly written, ,The Village, deftly examines the limits of empathy, the slipperiness of reason, and the strength of our principles in the face of personal gain.,Praise for ,The Village, Â ,â€œPowerful . . . One of the novelâ€™s great strengths is how it maintains an ambience of mystery and menace.â€,â€”,The New York Times Book Review,Â , â€œExtraordinary . . . Lalwani writes with wonderful clarity and intelligence.â€,â€”The Times ,(U.K.), Â , â€œ,The Village, can creep up and grab you unawares.â€,
  ,â€”Toronto Star,
,Â , â€œ[Lalwaniâ€™s] prose is evocative and excellent.â€,â€”,Publishers Weekly, Â , â€œThoughtful and beautifully written.â€,â€”,The Guardian, (U.K.), Â , â€œGripping.â€,â€”,Marie Claire, (U.K.),â€œIntelligent and disturbing . . . a sharply observed, highly personal book.â€,â€”,Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,â€œA thoughtful novel that envelops us in the oppression and beauty of the rural prison . . . Each voice is distinct, believable and stubborn in its refusal to be easily known. . . . Touchingly evocative.â€,â€”,Financial Times, Â , â€œThoughtfully and often beautifully written . . . a candid exploration of journalistic ethics.â€,â€”,The Observer
Fiction,Cultural,India,Literary Fiction,Contemporary,Asian Literature,Indian Literature,Cultural,Asia,Adult Fiction,Adult
The Village