The Mission House

Carys Davies is a novelist and writer of short stories with an impressive array of accolades. I approached her latest novel The Mission House with curiosity and found myself completely immersed in the wistful, gently paced narrative. That is not to say that the novel is lacking; Davies weaves the plot in a temporal structure that comfortably outpaces the reader, and while the lyricism and imagery in the tightly pruned chapters project a magical aura of India, the allegory is a backdrop of post-colonialism and modern political rumblings which hang in the air like humidity; not quite visible yet distinctly discomforting.

SELECTION DAY

Ten years ago, a brilliant and shrewd mind emerged out of the social and political schisms of India. As if firing arrows, Aravind Adiga scribed his fictional arriviste hero’s every thought and deed in his 2008 Man Booker Prize-winning debut novel, The White Tiger, with sufficient force and accuracy that its target – India – Read More

Viceroy’s House

(UK, 2017) 24 March – 30 March 2017, DCA “History is written by the victors”, reads the opening title card of Viceroy’s House, signalling the desire to question the accepted narrative of India’s partition in 1947. However, in seeking to expose the emotional reality through a Muslim/Hindu love story, this UK made costume drama remains Read More