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The Gurkha's Daughter
The Gurkha's Daughter | Prajwal Parajuly
3 posts | 2 read | 3 to read
A number one bestseller in India and a shortlisted nomination for the Dylan Thomas Prize, The Gurkha's Daughter is a distinctive debut from a rising star in South Asian literature. This collection of stories captures the textures and sounds of the Nepalese diaspora through eight intimate, nuanced portraits, taking us from the hillside city of Darjeeling, India to a tucked away Nepalese restaurant in New York City. The daily struggles of Parajuly's characters reveal histories of war, colonial occupation, religious division, systemized oppression, and dispossession in the diverse geographical intersection of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and China. In a cruel remark by a wealthy doctor to her tenant shopkeeper, we hear the persistent injustice of the caste system; in the contentious relationship between a wealthy widow and her sister-in-law, we glimpse the restricted lives and submissive social roles of Nepalese women; and in a daughter's relationship with her father, we find a dissonance between modernity and tradition that has echoed through the generations in unexpected ways. Across different ethnicities, religions, and other social distinctions, the characters in these share a universal yearning, not just for survival but for a better life; one with love, dignity, and community. In The Gurkha's Daughter, Parajuly reveals the small acts of bravery--the sustaining, driving hope--that bind together the human experience.
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review
rockpools
The Gurkha's Daughter | Prajwal Parajuly
post image
Mehso-so

Hovering between a pick and a so-so.

This was an eye-opening collection of short stories - but I struggled with it. Set amongst the Nepalese diaspora, in Northern India, Bhutan and the US, the attitudes to women, servants and those of different caste were hard to get your head round. There are a lot of beatings.

I guess the stories I liked the most tackled this head-on. In a Father‘s Journey, a father‘s close relationship with his daughter

rockpools changes as she grows up & tries to fits in with expectations. And in The Immigrants, two Nepali migrants in NYC grapple with status, flat-sharing & maybe friendship.

Most of the stories focus on women/girls, but I preferred those where the mc was male - I‘m not sure if the author just writes more sympathetic men.

An interesting read - I‘d recommend if you‘d like to learn more about #Nepal ese culture. #ReadingAsia2021 @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle
3y
squirrelbrain That sounds like hard work…. But it‘s another ticked off the list! 3y
rockpools @squirrelbrain Yay! Only 28 to go 😕 3y
Librarybelle Yay for 28 more to go…great progress! 3y
42 likes4 comments
blurb
rockpools
The Gurkha's Daughter | Prajwal Parajuly
post image

This is an interesting collection of short stories from the Nepalese diaspora, many of them set in Northern India, between Nepal and Bhutan.

Unfortunately, I‘m not sure ‘interesting‘ is what I look for in a short story collection, & I‘m finding it hard going. The characters are all living hard lives, in impossible-to-get-out-of situations. And I‘m not sure that any of them are likeable.

But it certainly gives a non-romantic view of Nepal 😕

squirrelbrain Sounds like hard work…. 😒 3y
51 likes1 comment
quote
AkashPhoenix
The Gurkha's Daughter | Prajwal Parajuly

Life is so much better when you have someone to share it with.
Sarita, The Gurkhas Daughter

20 likes1 stack add