cover image HomeSpun

HomeSpun

Nilita Vachani, . . Other Press, $24.95 (361pp) ISBN 978-1-59051-285-2

Told largely in retrospect, this ambitious debut by Indian émigré filmmaker Vachani is narrated by Sweta, who presides over her family history with equal parts passion and uncertainty. Born in 1958, Sweta lives with her grandparents, while her father, Ranjit “Ronu” Kalra, serves as an Indian air force pilot. The book takes its title from the khadi cloth favored by Gandhi, and it becomes a symbol of the unhappy divide between Sweta’s grandfather, a fighter for Indian independence, and her grandmother, a fashion plate. The fight for independence, WWII, border battles with Pakistan, and Vietnam permeate the novel, separating families and dividing the populace along religious and ethnic lines. Sweta darts in and out of the story as, most of the time, an inscrutable, sullen and overweight teenager. Around her swirl the stories of her grandparents’ ugly marriage, of her father’s childhood as a film star and of his first love. Most moving is the figure of Nanaji, Sweta’s grandfather, a tender man committed to principles and making the best of the hand he’s dealt. The book opens with his death and frontloads the many characters, but Nanaji and Sweta’s poignant relationship pulls the reader through manifold tragedy and serendipity. (May)