The Dream Builders
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A Good Morning America and PureWow Best Book of January
A Goodreads Buzziest Book of the New Year
A January Indie Next Pick & Debutiful Most Anticipated Book of 2023
“A marvel.” —Kevin Wilson
“Funny, moving, and often deliciously cynical.” —Tiphanie Yanique
After living in the US for years, Maneka Roy returns home to India to mourn the loss of her mother and finds herself in a new world. The booming city of Hrishipur where her father now lives is nothing like the part of the country where she grew up, and the more she sees of this new, sparkling city, the more she learns that nothing—and no one—here is as it appears. Ultimately, it will take an unexpected tragic event for Maneka and those around her to finally understand just how fragile life is in this city built on aspirations.
Written from the perspectives of ten different characters, Oindrila Mukherjee’s incisive debut novel explores class divisions, gender roles, and stories of survival within a society that is constantly changing and becoming increasingly Americanized. It’s a story about India today, and people impacted by globalization everywhere: a tale of ambition, longing, and bitter loss that asks what it really costs to try and build a dream.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mukherjee's sweeping debut charts the rampant class differences in the fictional Indian city of Hrishipur over the course of the summer of 2018. To name a few of the 10 major characters: Maneka, a creative writing professor at a small Midwest college, is back in India to spend her summer break with her newly widowed father; her school friend Ramona, who has recently miscarried, suspects her globe-trotting entrepreneur husband, Salil, is having affairs; Jessica, a caterer and single mother, hustles to take care of her adopted daughter; Pinky gives facials and massages to the wealthy and learns their secrets; and Rajesh, the driver for Ramona and Salil, longs for a better life. Looming over them all is a nearly completed Trump Towers luxury apartment building, representing the country's wealth, modernity, and progress to some of the narrators, and for others poisonous corruption. By the end, a major disaster impacts everyone. Though some of the many points of view add more insight than others, the author does a great job capturing the setting and exploring the fateful power dynamics. On balance, it's a penetrating look at the fast-growing country's shaky façade.
