Haunting Bombay
I mostly read science and psychology books and journals and crime novels these days, but my neighbor, who's writing a wonderful Young Adult novel, let me take a look at this new book, Haunting Bombay, by a first-time novelist she knows, Shilpa Agarwal, who was just published by Soho books.

I haven't read Shilpa's book, just skimmed it -- simply because I have to read about eight books before the end of the month, and prep from them for the author interviews I'm doing -- both taking place on C-Span.

Anyway, I thought I'd mention it here because the writing is so beautiful, and the story seems exciting, and because it's a book that takes place in India, Shilpa's native country. Reading it seems like taking a trip there (partly through a child's eyes), and in that, it reminds me of a movie I loved, Hari Om, about a French woman who ends up taking a rickshaw across India. I don't normally recommend anything I haven't tried or read, but I think this book is worth taking a chance on.

Here's the description from Amazon, including a review from one of my former LAT Fest panelists, Aimee Liu, author of Cloud Mountain:

"In her stunning debut novel Shilpa Agarwal takes on the ghosts that bedevil young Pinky Mittal's extended family and dispatches them with rambunctious wit and affection. The result is like finely wrought mirror work, a glittering tapestry of vibrant contradictions, characters, and mysteries. Haunting Bombay flirts deliciously with the true spirit of India."--Aimee Liu, author of Flash House

After her mother's death crossing the border from Pakistan to India during Partition, baby Pinky was taken in by her grandmother, Maji, the matriarch of the powerful Mittal family. Now thirteen years old, Pinky lives with her grandmother and her uncle's family in a bungalow on the Malabar Heights in Bombay. While she has never really been accepted by her uncle's family, she has always had Maji's love.

One day, as monsoons engulf the city, Pinky opens a mysteriously bolted door, unleashing the ghosts of an infant who drowned shortly before Pinky's arrival and of the nursemaid who cared for the child. Three generations of the Mittal family must struggle to come to terms with their secrets amidst hidden shame, forbidden love, and a call for absolute sacrifice.

About Shilpa:

Shilpa Agarwal was born in Bombay and currently lives in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Duke University and UCLA and has taught at both UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. As an unpublished novel, Haunting Bombay won the 2003 First Words Literary Prize for South Asian Writers. It is her first novel.

And, again, thank you to all of you who are helping keep me afloat (and able to continue writing my column) in the wake of the downturn in newspapers by buying stuff on Amazon through links on Amy's Mall (stuff costs the same for you; I just get a six percent kickback). I truly appreciate it...from every used book to that video camera somebody bought the other day!