A brilliant debut novel of contemporary displacement, destabilization, and shifting identity. Heartrending in its domestic drama, illuminating and instructive in its exploration of the political as personal, Mother Ocean Father Nation is a memorable work of fiction to place beside the work of Nishant Batsha’s gifted contemporaries Mohsin Hamid, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and others bravely bearing witness to a world suddenly and tragically dividing into ‘native-born’ and ‘refugees’—the overwhelming political drama of our time.
"A brother and a sister learn about survival and secrets. Batsha balances his storytelling to examine the many ways we belong within, and break away from our families, societies, and homelands." — NPR
“[A] gut-wrenching journey through the complex intersection of family, identity, and the long arm of history.” — Booklist
“A brilliant debut novel of contemporary displacement, destabilization, and shifting identity. Heartrending in its domestic drama, illuminating and instructive in its exploration of the political as personal, Mother Ocean Father Nation is a memorable work of fiction to place beside the work of Nishant Batsha’s gifted contemporaries Mohsin Hamid, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and others bravely bearing witness to a world suddenly and tragically dividing into ‘native-born’ and ‘refugees’—the overwhelming political drama of our time.” — Joyce Carol Oates, author of Breathe
“A moving saga about the experience of Indian migrants in the South Pacific.” — Amitav Ghosh, author of Sea of Poppies
"A gorgeous and finely-wrought family story, and a meditation on migration, homeland and belonging in the long shadow of Empire. Batsha's characters live on the page, and he gives as much care to the fault lines of family as he does to those of race and class engineered by the colonial order. His novel is an act of testimony to the ways that societies fracture along those lines, and how families break apart and put themselves back together. This is at once a probing look at events of the not-so-distant past, and a beautiful work of fiction." — Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State
[A] gut-wrenching journey through the complex intersection of family, identity, and the long arm of history.
"A gorgeous and finely-wrought family story, and a meditation on migration, homeland and belonging in the long shadow of Empire. Batsha's characters live on the page, and he gives as much care to the fault lines of family as he does to those of race and class engineered by the colonial order. His novel is an act of testimony to the ways that societies fracture along those lines, and how families break apart and put themselves back together. This is at once a probing look at events of the not-so-distant past, and a beautiful work of fiction."
01/01/2022
On a fictional island in the Pacific blending aspects of Fiji, Uganda, and Trinidad, two siblings take different paths when violence against the Indian community explodes in 1985. University student Bhumi flees for California when her friendship with a politician's daughter endangers her, while Jaipal works for their grocer father and must seek a way to express his queer identity. From history scholar Batsha; with 125,000-copy first printing.
Neil Shah is a strong narrator for this family drama about siblings Bhumi and Jaipal, who are separated by civil unrest on their small South Pacific island. Fans of world literature will be enthralled by this story of rising nationalism as the islanders turn on the minority Indian community. Shah shifts easily between dense narrative and dialogue. He maintains listeners’ engagement despite a large cast of characters, and his dramatic flair underscores the threats of impending violence faced by Bhumi and Jaipal. Adding authenticity to the overall experience, Shah capably pronounces the South Asian names, places, and words scattered throughout this story. M.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Neil Shah is a strong narrator for this family drama about siblings Bhumi and Jaipal, who are separated by civil unrest on their small South Pacific island. Fans of world literature will be enthralled by this story of rising nationalism as the islanders turn on the minority Indian community. Shah shifts easily between dense narrative and dialogue. He maintains listeners’ engagement despite a large cast of characters, and his dramatic flair underscores the threats of impending violence faced by Bhumi and Jaipal. Adding authenticity to the overall experience, Shah capably pronounces the South Asian names, places, and words scattered throughout this story. M.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
2022-03-30
Set on a fictional Pacific island and in the U.S., this book explores family relationships, the fallout of colonialism, and racism’s dire consequences.
An Indian family with deep roots on the unnamed island is the focus of this debut. Jaipal is the kind and directionless older brother who seeks love from women and especially men; Bhumi is the brilliant sister studying in the capital city. Their mother is a self-sacrificing head of household while their father is a drunken womanizer. Their lives are upended when the leader of a coup sets the “native Christian” population on the Indians for whom the island is home. The menace of the island’s murderous regime is well conveyed in the first part of the novel. Recent violence “meant that being an Indian man in the outside world felt like having a target on him. Being inside was no respite.” After both siblings have close friends disappeared into the night—presumably murdered—and Bhumi’s university closes, the family makes hasty decisions to protect themselves. It is not lost on them that their grandmother arrived on this island to escape similarly dangerous circumstances elsewhere. Sometimes the plot falls into place a little too conveniently: Bhumi escapes to California through her mother’s perfect foresight in getting her papers in order, while the father of the family dies just before Jaipal and his mother are forced to flee. Life in America is not easy for Bhumi; she is exploited by an employer and faces difficult choices. Subtler writing might have offered more emotional heft. However, if the characters do behave as expected, the book places them within an unending cycle of leaving and coming, illustrating the point that when colonists occupy and then abandon a country, autocracy and other humanitarian disasters ensue.
The author does a good job connecting the dots between his characters’ stories and the negative consequences of colonialism.
