Book Review: The Age of Shiva by Manil Suri
I listened to the audio version of this book because I love hearing the foreign dialect in the story telling.
As a mother, I appreciate this story for it’s amazing depth in telling the tale of this Indian mother and her relationship with her son. The story is written from the mother, Meera’s, perspective to her son, Ashvin. Nothing is told outright from the beginning but you have a feeling that she is telling the story of her life to try to explain something away, something that you feel will happen later on the story.
She tells her son how she met his father, about their life together, about her in-laws, her parents and sister, etc. Basically this story is massively long because it is the story of this woman’s life — her entire life.
You finally realize why she is writing to her son, just when you feel like there might not be a point. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel jilted at the end – I felt like I knew this woman, could understand her. To make a character come to life like that is a real gift.
I enjoyed reading about the Indian holidays, like Holi, and their customs, religion, and even the background of the country and the time she grew up in — from Gandhi to Indira Gandhi. The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars is because it could be a little long winded and the author would go into pain staking detail when it didn’t necessarily add to the story.
