The Last Song of Dusk: A Novel [Hardcover]

Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 2004

As young Anuradha boards a train for Bombay, where she will marry a man she has never met, peacocks appear out of nowhere to serenade her. Such a dazzling departure can only lead to an uncertain but exciting future. Sure enough, across her path come a host of colourful characters: Nandini, the artist who walks on water and has a passion for panthers; Mr Bunkusdaas, the father of Bollywood cinema; Diva bai, the sinister old woman rumoured to have fed her sister to crocodiles; and Percival Worthington, the aristocratically limp son of the governor of Bombay. Together they conjure a forgotten world of betrayed love, of dangerous desires and unfathomable sorrow - creating an Indian melody that will haunt you long after the tale is done.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his first novel, Bombay-born Shanghvi carves a magic realism–tinged niche for himself between Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy. In colonial India in the 1920s, Anuradha, a beautiful young bride, leaves her home in Udaipur and travels to Bombay to marry a man she has never met, the equally beautiful doctor, Vardhmaan. Shanghvi's India is an elegant, epicurean place: on the day of her departure Anuradha is serenaded by "an ostentation of peacocks that, just as the Marwar Express snorted its way out of Udaipur, unleashed their rain-beckoning cries of Megh-awuu, Megh-awuu...." The couple settles into Vardhmaan's familial home, and as beautiful people tend to, they have a stunning child, Mohan. This is all, of course, the setup for a fall; Mohan dies, and Anuradha and Vardhmaan descend into sadness and longing. The gloom lifts briefly when Anuradha goes away to Udaipur and brings back a 14-year-old orphan, Nandini, who sparks riots with her lascivious attire—the "mini sari"—and emerges as a national figure so important that even Gandhi asks to meet her. Anuradha and Vardhmaan, however, never quite recover from their loss, even when a new son, Shloka, is born. While not exactly purple, Shanghvi's prose can be a bit mauve: a simple necktie becomes "a dignified sartorial adjunct." Still, this is a sensual, delectable debut.
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From Booklist

The vibrant, lush, and sometimes chaotic backdrop of postcolonial India has become fertile ground for a burgeoning circle of Indian novelists that Shanghvi now joins. His first novel blends biting social commentary with a sprawling family saga, beginning with the marriage of the beautiful Anuradha and handsome Vardhmaan, who seem destined to lead a charmed life. But a hateful stepmother does what she can to interfere, and when their first child, Mohan, dies in a tragic accident, their lives take a downward spiral. Vardhmaan continues to be haunted by Mohan's death for years, causing an emptiness that threatens to sever his relationship with Anuradha. Their house, which is filled with the "wretched, infectious sadness" of ancient memories of unrequited love, seems to take on a sinister life of its own when their second child nearly dies at birth. In a narrative laced with poetic imagery, Shanghvi juxtaposes political commentary with magical realism, Bollywood's excesses with Gandhi's austerity. Part fairy tale, part satire, part love story--all come together in a marvelously inventive debut. Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing; First U.S. Edition edition (October 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559707348
• ISBN-13: 978-1559707343
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,331,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The First Song of an Exciting Talent, October 4, 2004

By 

Anne B. Long (Menlo Park CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Song of Dusk: A Novel (Hardcover)

We are living in rich era of Indian literature and here is another author to embrace. Unlike the professional reviewers who finished this novel at one sitting, I had to take the first part of this book in small doses. It was too strong, too rich, too surprising, and too ominous. Lurking nastily in the house with Anuradha and Vardhmaan is an evil and ruthless mother-in-law who drove me away from the book for days. Next, the very house to which the lovers flee takes over plotting against them. When I finally screwed up my courage, I too finished the book in one evening. At the last page, I turned the book over and started reading it all over again. This time I'll try to figure out the meaning of the magical elements and try to see how the Nandini subplot influences the story of Anuradha. On first reading, I don't understand the end of the story, which may just be too realistically sad.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SALT, SUGAR AND SPICE IN A SONG, November 12, 2004

By 

Hubertina J. Vasavada (The Sea Ranch, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Song of Dusk: A Novel (Hardcover)

My first reading of THE LAST SONG OF DUSK was a greatly enjoyable experience. The story has lingered on my mind since, compelling me often to revisit. Now, when I start rereading at whatever page I happen to flip, I immediately get caught up again in its enticing storytelling and the lives of its fascinating characters. Succumbing once more to the tale's magic, melancholy and sensuality, I wonder, shed a tear, chuckle, reflect or heave a sigh. As in eating an Indian curry, I savor the various flavors, the salt of sadness, the sweetness of love and friendship, the piquant spice of sexy passages... all of it steeped in poetry.
I highly recommend readers to partake of this delightful curry that Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi so lovingly and ably prepared for us.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Who ... could you entrust with the safety of your heart?", February 23, 2005

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Song of Dusk: A Novel (Hardcover)

The Last Song of Dusk marks the debut of yet another imaginative Indian author who writes in hyperbole and lush, sweeping strokes. Beautiful, impish Arunradha, with a voice to which "even the moon listens" marries the handsome doctor Vardhmaan, whose stories win her heart. The two become best friends and lovers, with such intimacy that it seems as though nothing can come between them. Even Vardhmaan's evil stepmother Divi-bai cannot drive them apart. But when their beloved and charmed son Mohan is sucked from his room into a tree, then dropped, Divi-bai finds their weakness, and all changes between them. Eventually, they move to an malevolent house with Arunradha's wild teenage cousin Nandina, who sets about to make her mark on Bombay society and the world. The three struggle to find the answer to the question, "Is love enough?"

Reminiscent in parts of the work of Chitra Divakaruni, Arundhati Roy, and Isabelle Allende, The Last Song of Dusk explores the meaning of love in an occasionally magical world where houses have intentions and women mate with panthers. The novel falters when it brings in historical figures such as Gandhi since the novel's strength lies in the smaller, more believable moments. The language, although often seductive, can be overblown, but Shanghvi's passion for storytelling and his characters resonates in every sentence. Even when he fails, he picks up the narrative and continues toward the resolution with authority.

Recommended for a general readership, particularly for those who enjoyed The God of Small Things (Roy) and The House of Spirits (Allende.) While The Last Song of Dusk doesn't approach the success of either, it occupies a spot in the same literary tradition.