The Illuminated

Thank you for granting me access to this novel. I feel like I should apologize even for not reading it as soon as I got it. I went into this novel completely blind but I was drawn in by the cover and the fact that the author is of South Asian origin and damn do I feel mentally refreshed. I'm a polyreader but this book commanded my attention like no other. I have no way of talking about this book without dropping sping but this is a must-read. It's a book you experience with all your senses.

This is a book that is quite deceptive - you think there is not a lot happening, but in reality, the inner turmoil of the main characters is like riding a wave. Shashi and Tara - mother and daughter - two women whose lives are upended with the death of Robi, the husband/father. They have to navigate their own emotions and each other while coming to terms with this enormous loss. As mother and daughter, they are being buffeted in different directions and you have no idea how their difference can be resolved. This is a book about women, and not just Shashi and Tara, but women of different classes and persuasions. It covers love, desire, marriage and alongside this there is the MSS - an organisation which seems to want to put women back to the lives that they have worked hard to escape from, returning them to a time when men are in charge. The illumination of Shashi and Tara in the point of the book and when we get there - so worthwhile. I've never read anything by this author before, but I will looking for some more.

If a reader wants a sophisticated insight into Indian culture and its treatment of women, this will prove to be illuminating.it is not a book with an exciting plot leading to a dramatic conclusion, rather the story mainly of two women, charting their progress through life but particularly their relationships with men. It is well researched and written.

The Illuminated for me was a slow burning story, the more you read the more you want find out and want to find out about the lives of the two main characters Shashi and Tara. Their lives, despite a high degree of independance are still greatly under the influence of the men in them. I also loved the story of Poornima which you only get glimpses of until the end of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the p;ublishers for allowing me to read The Illuminated.

Such a wonderful, thought provoking read. A excellent debut novel following a mother and daughter after the loss of their husband/father. A perfect title.

The Illuminated looks at grief, and women resisting the pressure to conform to standard expectations of Indian women. The story predominantly follows Shashi and her daughter Tara, exploring their heartache at the loss of their husband/father. Shashi navigates the difficulties of grieving her husband amongst a world full of people telling her how she should be living her life. Tara has escaped the home she was raised in and is studying Sanskrit, where she has become entangled in an affair with a visiting scholar. The book examine the strengths and weaknesses of these women in beautiful storytelling narrative. I found flaws with both characters but ultimately grew to care deeply for them both and hope for a positive outcome. The way Ghose writes about family and the bonds of love between mother and daughter is stunning and I highly recommend this, especially to fans of Indian literature.

This is not a relaxing or easy books as there's plenty of emotions and lot is happening in the mind of the characters.
A well plotted story, two well developed and interesting characters, good storytelling.
An excellent debut, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This is a really interesting, thought-provoking insight into Indian culture and how women are treated. A great debut novel, I will be seeking out more of the author's work.

This novel is well written; the language is a delight to experience and the superb use of similes is bound to place a smile of empathy on the reader's face. The setting in Bengal might evoke pleasurable feelings in Bengali diaspora. All in all a good read, highly recommended.

What a book, this story is about love, loss, the way two women navigate grief, how they are treated by society and how they come to manage their relationship as mother and daughter. I find it hard to sum up a book that just makes you feel so much as you read it. It was a gorgeous insight into a mother - daughter relationship that is unlike anything I have read. They’re barely together in the story but in so many ways, their stories are about finding themselves in a time where they are coming to terms with a death in the family. I really thought the story of grief was told in a delicate, yet deeply moving way. It’s an empowering story of family as both the mother and the daughter deal with very different emotions connected to the death of their husband / father respectively.

There’s a political undertone with a fictional right-wing religious fundamentalist group that shapes the narrative as the women respond to the threats to their freedom. There is also a commentary on the class system, they live in as well as the people who live outside of it which I found really interesting.

Tara is a Sanskrit student and explores so many angles of her life and freedom through such stunning language, I would read a whole other book from her point of view alone. I want to know what happens next to these two women as I think their journey is just beginning.

Shashi and her daughter Tara are both mourning the death of Robi but they are in different places in life and come at It from different perspectives. How does Shashi cope as a widow? And Tara as a fatherless daughter? This is almost impressionistic in spots but it never lets you forget that it's set in an India which is also going through rapid social and economic change. It's quite character driven until Ghose moves to wax more philosophical near the end. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

I really enjoy books that put my emotions through the wringer and then some, and this one hit that mark for me. I found the characters to be really well developed and easy to connect with throughout the book. The storytelling was absolutely phenomenal and the plot flowed easier than water down an unclogged drain pipe. The only “flaw” is that I wish it had been a tiny bit shorter, the chapters towards the end seemed to have lost their direction a bit and seemed to unnecessarily drag on. That being said, it could also have been my mood because I was desperate to get to the end to see how things panned out.

If you’re looking for a women focussed book whose prose will stay with you long after you put it down then this is definitely one you should pop on your TBRs.

Thank you so much to Head of Zeus for having me on the blog tour for this one.

This book is a family story about the relationship between a mother and her daughter. The story moves around their lives, both in the past and in the present, whilst in the background fundamentalism has begun to build up in India, with a campaign to put women back into their perceived traditional roles
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I thought the way readers are given small pieces of information about their relationship was done well, you build up a bigger picture of this family the further into the book you go. It is not an entirely linear tale, which helps to find out more about who these women are
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And they are very different people, Shashi has spent decades as a wife and mother, she is now in a place where she needs to be someone else. Tara is a doctoral student who is hurting after a broken situation. Both women are isolated, but for different reasons, and this book explores this, as well as their connection, and the connections they have with others, whilst also fighting for their independence against an emerging religious group
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It is a story about loss and grief. People are changed through grief, and this book explores that. Shashi moves from wife to widow, and the expectations of who she is now, how she should dress, live, and work as a woman living alone are explored in this book. Pieces of information, such as removing her bracelets, and which events she should no longer attend are shared, and it was interesting to read about these traditions
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A beautiful family story, I enjoyed reading this book a lot. Thank you to Head of Zeus and Anindita Ghose for this ARC

A story about grief, loneliness and the space women inhabit in modern India. The illuminated by Anindita Ghose is a simplistically beautiful tale of mother Shashi and daughter Tara's lives before and after the sudden loss of their beloved husband and father Robi.

I was captivated by the concise way Anindita described characters; there's an efficiency to the way you knew how the characters behaved and presented themselves in the world, which I enjoyed. However, I yearned to delve deeper into Shashi and Tara's character and to understand them more than just their feelings of grief. They felt distant from me as a reader. In some ways, Anindita did a superb job at making both protagonists more isolated than ever.

The presence of Hindu fundamentalism in the form of the MSS was gradual throughout the book and I had felt the movement encroach Shashi's and Tara's lives in an ominous way. Even though my experience and knowledge of fundamentalism in India is extremely limited, Anindita conveyed the message of danger well.

The Illuminated is a remarkable debut by a young author. The book grabbed me from the very beginning and drew me into the lives of Shashi and Tara - it was easy to become immersed in reading it. The book is about two strong Indian women and how they each deal with the death of their husband/father in their own ways, how he affected their lives before and after his death and how they handle their relationship after he is no longer part of their lives. Ghose has created complex, likeable characters, who don’t conform to any stereotypes of South Asian women. They were strongly developed, likeable characters, with complicated emotions and individuality. All in all, I found it a delightful, absorbing read - a real masterpiece from a debut author. I look forward to seeing what she does next.

THE ILLUMINATED by Anindita Ghose is a character-driven family drama set in India that felt like I was invited into an intimate space by the family.
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Shashi is an Indian woman suddenly widowed while visiting her son in the U.S., trying to connect to her daughter Tara who is in a remote school studying Sanskrit. While Shashi is feeling unmoored by the loss of her well-known husband, Tara is also fighting this same feeling from the loss of a toxic relationship with an older mentor. The death of Robi sets off a slurry of memories of how each arrived where they are and how this change can possibly alter their futures. Meanwhile a growing fundamentalist group is having more sway and threatens the basic freedoms of these women.

I really enjoyed growing into each character as the book went on. Not having a lot of Indian Culture around me, there was much to learn, and look up! This added to the story as I learned more about the customs and perspectives of this particular family, with caste structures and general Hindu practices. Grappling with the strong patriarchal society and their their changed circumstances, both women see how the losses can open up new opportunities. I also really enjoyed the structure of this novel with the moon-phase chapters and the pamphlets pushing the rigid rules.

This is a very character heavy, plot light story that illuminates a piece of Indian culture in a lovely way. The generations given voice show both older and new perspectives which felt honoring to each. This is a rich, nuanced, non-graphic-violence option for an Indian family drama!

I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who loves a good family drama, diverse perspectives, and a little feminism! Thank you so much to @headofzeus publishers and @NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. This title is available now for all to read.