The Illuminated By Anindita Ghose

'One of the best books for 2023' Cosmopolitan
Against a rising tide of fundamentalism in India, a mother and daughter lose the most important man in their lives.

Shashi, fifty-something and suddenly widowed, tries to contact her only daughter, Tara, to break the news, but cannot reach her. As Shashi confronts her loss, she finds, amidst grief, unexpected new freedoms.
Meanwhile, Tara, a spoiled but brilliant university student, has retreated to Dharamsala to deal with the fall out from an ill-advised relationship. Her self-imposed solitude makes contact near impossible, so by the time she learns of her loss, the funeral is already over.
Without the man that bound them, Shashi and Tara struggle to reconcile. But his absence also makes them a target for an emerging religious group determined to put women in their place, and Shashi and Tara individually prepare to defend their independence.
If mother and daughter are to come together, they must find a way to understand both their new world, and each other. But can you ever emerge from an eclipse unscathed?
'Lyrical throughout yet so deceptively easygoing... an extraordinary novel' Andre Aciman
'Powerful, evocative and accomplished it's hard to believe The Illuminated is a debut' Alice Ryan
'Gives voice to a new generation' BBC Radio 4

Book Information

Format: Paperback

Published: 28/02/2023

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 304

Dimensions: 233 x 154mm

Note: Remaindered books or remainders are printed books that are over stocks and are sold at reduced prices. Remainder books are sometimes marked by the publisher or slightly damaged.