The Lowland

The Lowland is an intensely felt book about familial relationships that bind and tear in unexpected and unrevealed ways, about links that inescapably determine who we are. It is epic in its canvas and personal in its representation of lives undone and remade again.

Subhash's brother was always around, even in his earliest recollections. Udayan was seldom far from his elder brother, whether they were playing for hours on end in the ponds dotted with hyacinths or strolling the Calcutta suburbs before sunset. Despite being so close in age that they spent their early years together, their brotherly closeness is unable to prevent the disaster that would upend their lives as the years go by and American tanks invade Vietnam and riots flare across India.

Charming and impetuous, Udayan is pulled to the Naxalite movement, which is a struggle against poverty and injustice. He will sacrifice everything for what he believes in, changing the course of events for the people closest to him—his brother, their parents, and his just married, expectant wife. His actions will have far-reaching consequences that will affect many continents and future generations.

The Lowland is a profoundly felt book about familial relationships that bind and unravel in ways unanticipated and unrevealed, links that inevitably determine who we are. It is epic in its canvas and personal in its depiction of lives undone and made again. This novel is Jhumpa Lahiri's most heartbreaking piece of fiction to date, and it has all the characteristics of her delicately compassionate, achingly sad storytelling.