Best Books of 2010 - India Currents

AS IT WAS WRITTEN by Sujatha Hampton. Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2010. 384 pages. $25.99

Sujatha Hampton’s debut novel deals with the stock theme of Indian writers, the generational conflict between the preservation of cultural purity and the iconoclasm of the younger generation. The novel centers around the family of Raman Nair, a member of the model minority, who has realized the Indian version of the American Dream: a good job, a house in upscale Maclean, Virginia, an admiring family, and a dog.

By the end of the novel, life is turned topsy-turvy, and “Indian values” are challenged and flouted by the younger generation. Though this is an old theme, the novel is refreshing in presenting a new equilibrium towards which immigrant cultures should work in American society.

—Lakshmi Mani

via indiacurrents.com