Description
Machilipatnam, a small town on the Coromandel coast in South India where the British first landed to trade in dyes, comes to life through a lively cast of characters – Ammamai, resigned to her widowhood, but a fighter; Saroja, the pseudo-intellectual who owns and runs the Victorian dyes factory; Kamala, the eunuch, who carries within her a painful past and Raman, the mosquito-scientist whose experiment with the malarial insect comes to be known as the Raman Technique. Then there is the ghost of Elizabeth Gibbs, the bored English woman who slept with her equally bored brother George and gave birth to a hermaphrodite. And Nayantara, who teaches Mallika all there is to know about love. But above all, this is Mallika and Siva’s story – a mother and son in a complex and deeply disturbing relationship.
About the Author
Sarayu Srivasta
I was born in Tanjore, India. I studied architecture in the Madras and Tokyo universities. My first book – Where the Streets Lead – won the JIIA award. I won the first prize for the non-fiction essay for Picador. I co-authored two books with Dom Moraes, renowned poet and writer: The Long Strider, and Out of God’s Oven, which was shortlisted for the Kiriyama Prize. My novel – The Last Pretence – was long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize, and – If You Look For Me, I am Not Here, Bluemoose, UK – was included on The Guardian’s Not for the Booker Prize longlist.
That Was, published by Platypus Press, UK is a coming-of-age story set in India and Japan.
I live in Mumbai and have a son and daughter and three granddaughters, Rosa, Lola, and Tara.
