Like a Bird
-
-
4.0 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $12.99
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
Taylia Chatterjee has never known love, and certainly has never felt it for herself. Growing up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, with her older sister Alyssa, their parents were both overbearing and emotionally distant, and despite idyllic summers in the Catskills, and gatherings with glamorous family friends, there is a sadness that emanates from the Chatterjee residence, a deep well of sorrow stemming from the racism of American society.
After a violent sexual assault, Taylia is disowned by her parents and suddenly forced to move out. As Taylia looks to the city, the ghost of her Indian grandmother dadi-ma is always one step ahead, while another more troubling ghost chases after her. Determined to have the courage to confront the pain that her family can’t face, Taylia finds work at a neighborhood café owned by single mother and spiritualist, Kat. Taylia quickly builds a constellation of friends and lovers on her own, daring herself to be open to new experiences, even as they call into question what she thought she knew about the past.
Taylia's story is about survival, coming to terms with her past and looking forward to a future she never felt she was allowed to claim. Writing this for eighteen years, poet and activist Fariha Róisín’s debut novel is an intense, provocative, and emotionally profound portrait of an inner life in turmoil and the redemptive power of community and love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
R is n's engrossing debut novel (after poetry collection How to Cure A Ghost) follows a mixed-race teenage girl's experience of trauma and survival. Taylia Chatterjee, born into economic privilege on Manhattan's Upper West Side to a Jewish mother and Bengali-Indian father, is viewed as a disappointment by her parents compared to her sister, Alyssa, the "white-passing majesty," and both are expected and pressured to succeed. Eventually, the heaviness of their familial roles proves too much, leading Alyssa to commit suicide. Amid the family's grief, Taylia is raped by a friend of her parents. They blame Taylia, still living at home while enrolled at Columbia, and throw her out, forcing her to cobble together a life from the generosity of new friends: Kat, Ky, and Tahsin. Bouncing from home to home, Taylia makes decisions refracted through both her naivet and an overwhelming understanding of how cruel the world can be. As she gains a sense of purpose, she feels empowered knowing she can make decisions for herself. R is n's portrayal of Taylia's surrogate family offers a life-giving chronicle of Taylia's emergence from pain into a new life. Well-paced and hopeful, this stirring work will resonate with those interested in stories of young women breaking free of oppression and trauma.
