‘India has found its Ferrante’ — Niven Govinden “And I struggle to find my place in this dark novel. I yearn for passion and despair – for that is what makes good literature – while Ishwari seeks a life of joy for herself and her son.” Ishwari has run away from home, seeking to free herself from the shackles of society and devote her attentions to writing a novel… only to realise that her five year old son Roo has followed her. Ishwari and Roo wander the streets of Kolkata at night, until an elderly man takes pity on them and offers them an empty room in the guesthouse he manages. Ishwari gets work as a caregiver to the handsome gentleman who lives next door, while Roo spends all day locked up on the roof. Pulsing with raw energy, Abandon gives voice to the perpetual conflict between the demands of life, particularly of motherhood, and those of art. ‘A long, raw, brutal, sometimes heartbreaking tug-of-war between motherhood and creativity… Abandon is a bold, important and formidable novel about the demands of life and the responsibilities we have, both to others and to ourselves.’ — Lucy Scholes, The National ‘In this beautiful novel, which subtly examines the rift that can open up inside us, compassion and cruelty are so close that at times they become indistinguishable. Prepare to be wrenched apart.’ — Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You
