In a Marwari family in Calcutta, the last woman dies. But even after her death, Savitri remains in the house, invisible but constantly audible. Gradually, the inmates begin to rely on Savitri’s ghost to have their lives managed. One day, Savitri falls silent. Soon afterwards, Moom, a young girl of 11 or 12 mysteriously appears in Agarwal House. She says she’s come all the way from Ajmer. She captures Hridaynarayan’s heart in particular. Gradually, the little girl changes – first into a temperamental, tantrum-throwing creature and, soon, into a child woman. In a surreal, shocking climax, she stands nude before the ageing Hridaynarayan, who is mortified to discover stirrings of desire within himself. But then she becomes a child again. She reveals that she is the infant daughter whom Savitri had choked to death because of her mother-in-law’s constant curses and the family anger at having given birth to a daughter.
Bani Basu is the most versatile contemporary Bengali author, essayist, critic, poet, translator and professor. The fiction oeuvre deals with a wide array of subjects ranging from history and mythology, to society, psychology, adolescence, music, gender, and others. She has won a number of literary awards, including the Sahitya Akademi, the Ananda Award and the Bankim Award.
Translators: Arunava Sinha
Release date
Audiobook: 23 November 2020
Tags
In a Marwari family in Calcutta, the last woman dies. But even after her death, Savitri remains in the house, invisible but constantly audible. Gradually, the inmates begin to rely on Savitri’s ghost to have their lives managed. One day, Savitri falls silent. Soon afterwards, Moom, a young girl of 11 or 12 mysteriously appears in Agarwal House. She says she’s come all the way from Ajmer. She captures Hridaynarayan’s heart in particular. Gradually, the little girl changes – first into a temperamental, tantrum-throwing creature and, soon, into a child woman. In a surreal, shocking climax, she stands nude before the ageing Hridaynarayan, who is mortified to discover stirrings of desire within himself. But then she becomes a child again. She reveals that she is the infant daughter whom Savitri had choked to death because of her mother-in-law’s constant curses and the family anger at having given birth to a daughter.
Bani Basu is the most versatile contemporary Bengali author, essayist, critic, poet, translator and professor. The fiction oeuvre deals with a wide array of subjects ranging from history and mythology, to society, psychology, adolescence, music, gender, and others. She has won a number of literary awards, including the Sahitya Akademi, the Ananda Award and the Bankim Award.
Translators: Arunava Sinha
Release date
Audiobook: 23 November 2020
Tags
Step into an infinite world of stories
Overall rating based on 33 ratings
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Labster
27 May 2022
The story was average, told in random bits and pieces. Some places it got interesting but mostly a boring book. The voice artist acted out everything quite well but it felt like I was listening to my school teacher reciting. There were unnecessary pauses between words, like an automatic machine rattling out numbers and words.
Manjima
27 Jul 2021
Narration, translation, plot
Storytel
9 Jan 2021
What a evoking story and so true ! I didn’t think that the end will be like this . I was astonished by knowing this Terrific mystery . Nice book .
renuka
7 Aug 2023
Good one! There were points where it got a bit boring, however, the climax is extremely gripping. The message communicated is powerful.
Neer
31 Jan 2022
A very good story narrated fantastically. I loved it. It talks about the societal issues and the place of a woman within the society.
English
India