Plot is oddly intriguing at times, yet with an overload of verbal tension.

Characters not easy to care about, though Thomas was mercurial. ( )

In Mira Jacob’s impressive debut novel, Amina Eapen is living is Seattle in 1998 when she gets a call from her mother saying her father, a brain surgeon, has been conducting full conversations with deceased family members. Amina is concerned and decides to see for herself what is happening. At first everything seems fine but, as the story unfolds, she realizes her father is in distress. A substantial subplot concerns Amina’s change in career from photojournalist to wedding photographer, due to the notoriety of a photo she had taken. Another major segment revolves around Amina’s brother, Akhil, and his impact on the family’s struggles. The Eapen family experiences more than its fair share of suffering and heartbreak. The story is told in multiple timelines from the 1970’s in Salem, India, to the 1980’s in New Mexico to the 1998 present, portraying the Eapens’ individual secrets and family tragedies.

The author appears to be a keen observer of human nature. The characters are complex, nuanced, and memorable. Jacob uses elegant prose and well-crafted dialogue that expresses a wide range of emotions. The East Indian-American culture is vividly evoked. This dysfunctional family felt very real to me. Themes include the devastation of profound loss, the importance of coming to terms with the past, and the dangers of sleepwalking through life. Although the novel is filled with pain, loss, and grief, it also contains a thread of hope. Recommended to those who appreciate multi-generational family dramas (unless currently dealing with family illness or loss). ( )

This is one of those books that was all the rage a few years back, the kind that makes me Leary with all the hubbub. But I bought a copy, because the author is a local and sets the book partially here in NM, and let it marinate on the shelves a while. The book held up, and was a surprisingly unique and evocative read. Covering the young life of the narrator, Amina, during a visit to India when a family crisis erupts, the narrative then picks up with how those events play out across the family over the years. Amina has to process her brother's death and her father's fading health. In the additional materials after the story, Jacob admits the book is partially auto-biographical - though she didn't intend to write a memoir, the father character was based largely on her own father. It lends the book a certain credibility.

Recommended.

4 1/2 bones!!!!! ( )

It took me about four days to get through the first 50 pages but then I was hooked and finished the rest of the book in about 36 hours. A rich and a fantastic story about family, love, loss, grief, and everything in between. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13078790

A family story. Amina is at the center of the story but it involves several members of her Indian-American family. And it involves sleep disorders. It is a huge book but written lightly, so it is easy to read.

It has been several months since I read it and I no longer remember details. Only that Amina travels to her family home, encounters uncles and brothers and various other quirky relatives, and considers staying, if just for a little while. We follow her through her adult life journey to a point when she has absorbed what she needed to absorb. ( )