Book Summary
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"An extraordinary story of ordinary people!
That is what this book offers with many shades and hues of everyday life, all the way from cradle to grave and beyond. In these pages, you will find blend of humility and arrogance, gratitude and greed, and loyalty and betrayal. You will encounter life in its raw form, carved out of the innocence of childhood, fantasies of youth’s dream factory, slippery slopes of middle age, and surrender to the Providence at old age...
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Amballore Thoma
An extraordinary story of ordinary people!
That is what this book offers with many shades and hues of everyday life, all the way from cradle to grave and beyond. In these pages, you will find blend of humility and arrogance, gratitude and greed, and loyalty and betrayal. You will encounter life in its raw form, carved out of the innocence of childhood, fantasies of youth’s dream factory, slippery slopes of middle age, and surrender to the Providence at old age.
Just to keep living is hazardous, as Thoma and Ann can attest as they are wrung through cycles of life starting with Riches-to-Rags and ending in Rags-to-Riches. The Death Man arrives in the evening of their lives to haul them to Outer Space. Thoma’s long arm reaches out from beyond the grave to serve justice to Gang of Four, his ungrateful younger children.
Chettiar, the landlord, a distortion in the four- dimensional space continuum, plants his seed in Thoma’s household, taking control of his life in a wider scheme of preservation of werewolf dynasty. Ann deploys the weapon of prayer to steer the family out of the chaos, but to no avail. Josh steps in to solve the supernatural mystery plaguing the family.
The novel embraces multiple genres to present a gripping story of horror and suspense. It seamlessly delves into surreal elements, draping the story in magical realism, seemingly acknowledging the need of the supernatural to explain the life’s riddle.
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AUTHOR BIO
Jose Thekkumthala is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Amballore House.
The author received his PhD in nuclear physics from the University of Alberta, Canada. He is currently working as Medical Physicist in the field of radiation therapy for cancer patients.
He enjoys hiking, soccer, chess, and reading.
He lives in the United States with his wife, Jennifer, and their beautiful daughters, Lisa and April.
Jose Thekkumthala
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
2017-03-07
A magical-realist narrative follows a large, eccentric family in India—from dealing with the impoverished years after 1947 to finally solving the supernatural mystery plaguing the clan. Thekkumthala (Amballore House, 2016) returns to the offbeat universe of his preceding novel with this linked family dynasty saga. A central figure in the ensemble cast is Thoma, a big, blaspheming, and blustery family man in the Indian state of Kerala. Hotheaded and irresponsible, Thoma creates a lot of his own problems. He is a victim at the outset, robbed of his share of his clan's estate and ejected into the streets just as India wins independence. The new nation's poverty- and corruption-wracked growing pains mirror the family's chronic dysfunction, as Thoma repeatedly abuses and impregnates his angular, long-suffering Christian wife, Anna, while failing to pay rent to their slum landlord, Chettiar. It just so happens that Chettiar is a werewolf (talking animals and visiting gods and demons are just a matter of course in this story), and his vengeful rape of Anna introduces a strain of lycanthropy into Thoma's bloodline. Some of the family's kids turn out great (the eldest son, Josh), while others have varying shades of villainy and menace—and a few daughters disappear or are murdered. Joining many fellow Indians in a diaspora in Canada pursuing their educations, Josh helps his aging parents get a home of their own, and he even solves the generations-old curse of Chettiar. Like its predecessor, this seriocomic epic blends the myths and religions of several cultures. Hinduism predominates, but one can expect doses of Roman Catholicism, flights of movie fantasy, Gypsy superstitions, and a loving ode to the author's home, Canada. Thekkumthala's tone can go from childish to fairy-tale and dime-novel pulp to iridescent to Shakespearean without skipping a beat or violating the reality of the world of marvels and miseries he invokes. Prior acquaintance with(the even less straightforward) Amballore House is unnecessary, although the two certainly bookend each other quite well. A flavorful mix of genres and influences, especially captivating for fans of Indian storytelling.
- Kirkus Reviews -
