Darkmotherland
-
- 8,99 €
-
- 8,99 €
Publisher Description
“A Dickensian sweep and a vast cast of characters, Upadhyay created an ancient world saturated with the spirit of our time and shaped by political ambition and dark vision . . . A grand novel indeed.” —Ha Jin, National Book Award–winning author of Waiting
An epic tale of love and political violence set in earthquake-ravaged Darkmotherland, a dystopian reimagining of Nepal, from the Whiting Award–winning author of Arresting God in Kathmandu
In Darkmotherland, Nepali writer Samrat Upadhyay has created a novel of infinite embrace—filled with lovers and widows, dictators and dissidents, paupers, fundamentalists, and a genderqueer power player with her eyes on the throne—in an earthquake-ravaged dystopian reimagining of Nepal.
At its heart are two intertwining narratives: one of Kranti, a revolutionary’s daughter who marries into a plutocratic dynasty and becomes ensnared in the family’s politics. And then there is the tale of Darkmotherland’s new dictator and his mistress, Rozy, who undergoes radical body changes and grows into a figure of immense power.
Darkmotherland is a romp through the vast space of a globalized universe where personal ambitions are inextricably tied to political fortunes, where individual identities are shaped by family pressures and social reins, and where the East connects to and collides with the West in brilliant and unsettling ways.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A web of intrigue fails to cohere in this clumsy doorstopper from Upadhyay (Mad Country). After two earthquakes devastate the fictional Himalayan nation of Darkmotherland, dictator Giridharilal Bhagirath Kumar becomes prime minister, earning the nickname PM Papa from his supporters and "the Hippo" from his detractors. Among the latter is a band of radicals led by former academic Shrestha, also known as Madam Mao, who plot Kumar's defeat. His allies include the wealthy Ghimirey industrial family, whose dealings are sweetened by the despot, but a Ghimirey son, Bhaskar, follows Shrestha, and he and her daughter, Kranti, fall in love. The first half of the novel chronicles Bhaskar and Kranti's courtship, engagement, and marriage against the backdrop of Kumar's tightening rule and Shrestha's revolutionary plotting. The second half tracks Kranti's search for answers after Bhaskar is mysteriously murdered. All the while, Kumar's male lover, Rozy, gender transitions and plots a dramatic coup of her own. Though admirable in its ambition, the novel fails to justify its length. Subplots are neglected for hundreds of pages, and frequent allusions to real-world figures—Taylor Swift, Madonna, and a "President Corn Hair" with a Twitter habit—undermine Upadhyay's efforts at worldbuilding. Readers will have a tough time with this.
