The Death of Mr Love. [Paperback]

Indra Sinha (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2003

Constructed around the true Nanavati murder case, Indra Sinha's first novel offers a rare and fascinating insight into the psychosexual undercurrents of Indian life. In a family of storytellers, there was one tale never told...The reverberations from the notorious Nanavati society murder in 1950s Bombay - involving a love triangle between an Indian playboy, an Englishwoman and her jealous Indian husband - were so great they reached the offices of Prime Minister Nehru. What is not known is that a second, connected crime, so cruel that it destroyed the lives of two women, went unreported and has remained unpunished. Until now. In present-day London the women's children meet. Driven by grief and anger they return to India to uncover the mystery of the crime that caused their mothers' suffering and exact their cold revenge. But in the bazaars of today's Bombay, a city racked and burned by riots, their adversary still enjoys huge power, and the friends soon find themselves in real, terrifying danger.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Drawing on the real-life murder of an Indian playboy in 1950s Bombay, first-novelist Sinha examines the effects of the past on a mild-mannered London bookseller, Bhalu, whose encounter with a childhood friend, Phoebe, at his mother's funeral rekindles questions about what prompted their parents to leave India. Jumping between the past--as reconstructed through the journals of Phoebe's mother--and the growing crisis in Bhalu's marriage, the novel slowly, hypnotically, unravels the story of a hidden crime, lost in the wake of the playboy's murder, a crime that could hold the answers to all Bhalu and Phoebe's lingering questions. Life in Bombay, in the present and in the years following India's emancipation, is evoked in a rainstorm of sensual detail, as Bhalu and Phoebe attempt to solve the decades-old mystery and, simultaneously, make sense of their feelings for one another. Sinha sometimes seems to lose control of her many-tentacled story, but the reader's interest is held by the simmering passions and the vivid atmospherics. A most promising debut, even if the author's reach slightly exceeds his grasp. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“An absorbing and strange story.” (New York Times Book Review on The Cybergypsies )

“Sinha is an elegant writer, and his novel twinkles with genial intelligence.” (The Observer )

“A boisterous, unpredictable whirl of a novel . . . [an] ambitious tale.” (Entertainment Weekly, Grade A- )

“A masterfully told story . . . a stylish, page-turning debut.” (Kirkus Reviews ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (June 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743207009
• ISBN-13: 978-0743207003
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,387,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Novel, November 3, 2010

By 

Alen Balja (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Death of Mr. Love : A Novel (Hardcover)

After I read Animal's People by the same author I was very intrigued by his other work. So I picked up this book. It is not the same book as Animal's People, in fact it is very different reading experience, but it is made of the same material. There is a black comedy, horror, documentary, love story and a murder mystery all in one package.

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love, Doubt, Betrayal. Void., November 7, 2003

By 

A E Goss (Croydon, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Death of Mr. Love (Hardcover)

One death, long ago, stains the innocence of the present with the pus of ancient corruption. It is a search for truth, rather than revenge, that drives the story, but it proves to be a truth that brings no release.
India is evoked with astonishing richness and depth, while remaing a backdrop for the characters, who are vivid and rounded, but always with more to reveal as the dream draws them on.
I read this book some months ago, but it haunts me still.