What a story - This Indian-American tale has nothing on Bollywood!
Lila De is about to be promoted when she learns that she has inherited a behemoth crumbling mansion in her Indian childhood home. She rushes to her family and begins to unravel the many, many stories that make up Family Lahiri. Literally stories, as family members live on each of the five floors of the home!

There are almost two whole stories in this novel - the story of Lila De and who she is and how she became a rising editor at a house on the cusp of greatness and the story of Lila De's family in Kolkata. Lila navigates the requests of her grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins as well as what her estranged mother wants. And As most stories set in India (at least for me), the customs, the food, the culture itself is a character all of it's own.

The story is so incredibly beautiful and winding - much like the mansion itself, there are little stories within stories and it's easy to forget the main path of the novel. Before long you are completely enmeshed in the family's fears, wants and desires.
All in all, a favorite tale of mine and something you are sure to fall in love with. Even now, I wish I could zoom with Lila's family and have them tell me I need to eat more, change my outfit, get a husband :)
#algonquin #themagnificentruins #nayantararoy

The title certainly refers to not only the family "home," but also everyone's relationships! I was a bit tired of everyone's baggage and the book needs some editing. The protagonist did a poor job of navigating her personal/professional life and her familial situation was filled with landmines that few could navigate easily. 3.5

This family saga stars Lila, a young American who was brought up in India and moves to the US to live with her father and his new wife in high school. When her grandfather dies, he leaves the family home to Lila. This ‘home’ is 6 stories and houses most of the Grandfather’s decedents. While the family was once prosperous, their fortune is dwindling. I enjoyed learning about each of the characters and the author did a great job interspersing their backstories. These characters are richly drawn. There are a couple of love interests in the book that didn’t enhance the story neither did a mystery that was woven in at the end. I did enjoy the description of the politics. At ~450 pages, it was too long and these extra storylines detracted from the main story. The book kept my attention and I was always curious about what is next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin for the advanced readers copy.

This is a long book with a lot of detail that is unpacked throughout. It's written very well, but I found it to be slow. The cover is gorgeous. The character's journey is interesting and captivated me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I think this will be good for book clubs to read and discuss.

So many thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin books for the opportunity to read The Magnificent Ruins by Nayantara Roy. The story follows Lila, a young woman of Indian descent currently living in New York working as an editor. Born in Kolkata to Indian parents who divorced when Lila was young, she lived 16 years there with her mother and extended family in their huge ancestral home. At sixteen she moves to New York to live with her father and stepmother (who is white) and her two half siblings.
Now an adult living in NYC, Lila is finding success in her career when she receives a call that her beloved grandfather has died and left the family mansion to her. She takes a leave of absence from her job and travels to Kolkata and immerses herself into the lives of her extended family once again. She must decide what to do with the massive home that tho once grand has fallen into disrepair, help plan for her cousin Biddy’s wedding, face her first love who is now married, but most of all she must face her mother and the rest of her complicated family.
I loved the setting of Kolkata and I’m fascinated with Indian culture. Reading Roy’s rich descriptions of the city, its people, their way of living, the food and the customs there drew me in and brought it all alive for me. I could see the people and places she describes in my mind and felt that I was climbing the many steps to walk the floors of the Lahiri family home.
The characters are vivid and real, brought to life by the author’s hand. Their different personalities and backgrounds and Lila’s interactions with them propel the story forward.
I believe at its heart this story is Lila’s struggle to understand herself amidst the backdrop of her family’s ancestral home and the people that inhabit it. She has had a complicated relationship with her mother her whole life. Her mother is often cold and harsh, manic even, going long periods where she will not communicate with Lila. The family hides many secrets and even relatives that Lila has always deeply loved prove to be enigmas as she spends more time in close proximity with them. Lila is torn between the culture and customs of her native India and those of her adopted home in New York City. Is she “the American” as her family calls her or is she truly Indian? I loved seeing Lila confront her long held beliefs about these different family members and herself as she rises to the role of manager of the family home and all that entails. Her struggle to understand herself amd her relationships with those close to her kept me invested until the very last page.
Roy has written an extraordinary debut in The Magnificent Ruins that is rich and deeply felt. I will definitely recommend this to others as a wonderful read!

Lila, a career-oriented Indian woman with a bright future, learns of the death of her grandfather and his bequest to her of her extended family’s home. She travels to India and struggles with old family dynamics as she grapples with her evolved self vs. her old patterns with her family. This was a well written character driven book. Although it was a good read, I felt it could have been shorter. A character driven novel with a very authentic immersion into Indian society and life. However, there was a lot of insignificant minutiae which made me impatient for the story to progress. She created a very authentic telling and I learned a lot about modern Indian society learning to integrate with the old, ingrained ways. She definitely immersed me with Indian life, but sometime I felt there was too much unnecessary depiction of insignificant actions. I think it could have been edited and streamlined better, but it didn’t detract too much from the story. Thank you NetGalley and Algonquin Books for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

In this very readable novel, Lila is a 29-year-old living in Brooklyn and working for a publisher. Her Indian grandfather dies and to her shock (and that of her family) he leaves Lila the ancestral home in Kolkata, a massive, crumbling historic pile that is also home to her huge extended family. The Lahiri family's alarm in having their communal home in the hands of someone who left India at the age of 16 to live in the US with her father runs deep. Lila is estranged from her mother and her parents' divorce continues to be a scandal that taints the Lahiris to this day.

Lila deeply loved her grandfather and immediately arranges for an eight-week leave to manage things in Kolkata. She's lovingly welcomed by her family, even though they are concerned that she'll sell the house and leave them without means to find a new place to live. You's think that they'd be reassured by the improvements Lila has made it clear that she will not sell the house because it would not bring enough for everyone to be able to buy new housing. They question. Will they counter-sue, saying that her grandfather was not in his right mind when choosing her as his heir? Will they work with her? There's a lot going on, her cousin's wedding, possible romance with people her family would not approve of, her mother's brilliance and temper, authors to edit and manuscripts to read in a completely different time zone. Can she wrangle all this in eight weeks? Will she even go home to Brooklyn?

Up until the final quarter of "The Magnificent Ruins," the POV has been Lila's. Now there's a terrific chapter where outsiders view and comment on the Lahiri family with a completely different lens. Gathered in are the corps of maids, watchmen, beggars, and tea stall waiters, who have lots to say regarding Lila's "modern" behavior with men and the family''s general attitudes.

Nayantara Roy creates memorable characters, bound tight by the ties of family. Lila is particularly complex. She lived in Kolkata, in the house, until she was sixteen and understands the vibe and expectations, yet she chooses to dress inappropriately for special events, poking at traditions she knows better than to disrespect. She's sympathetic in how she manages to maneuver between worlds and personalities, absorbing revelations about family secrets. This novel is an engaging read that will keep readers eager to find out what's next.

Many thanks to Algonquin Books and Net Galley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.