A book penned by Jhumpa Lahiri is a promise to enter a wonderland of humane tales. This book too traverse into the usual territory of her previous writings- that of lives of immigrant Indians (specially Bengalis) in U.S.A. What makes The Lowland different is it’s venturing into territory of Naxalbari, the uprisings thereafter in Kolkata & elsewhere and eventually, how this engulfs lives across continents and generations.

Initially this story builds up as a tale of entwined lives of two brothers- born one after another; even their mother treating them as fraternal twins by describing it as one long pregnancy of lasting almost 15 months.

These brothers, their lives tied together since birth; only to be separated once when the elder one- Subhash leaves for USA to pursue higher education and younger one- Udayan getting entangled in student movements in Kolkata. This separation of few years is what stamps their individual fates and also fates of the women encircling them- their mother, wife & daughter.

Subhash picking up the pieces left by his brother- fuelled by his attraction for Gauri and eventually his unbound fatherly affection for Bela; this takes their stories further. Although sometime the pace of storytelling slows down and then it moves faster across time (generation) leaps.

Although the plotline may sound familiar, the treatment given by Jhumpa Lahiri is what sets it apart from being overtly melodramatic or soap-opera variety. She keeps her characters and their growth natural, rooted and very real. Although Gauri comes across as an unconventional Indian woman in popular context, still we can relate to her plight only because of the penmanship of Ms. Lahiri. Like always in her writing, these people come across three-dimensional with their own fates, grey shades of characters and being superbly grounded.

Definite recommendation for lovers of a good book.