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In this "rare feast" of a novel, a young Indian American book editor inherits her estranged family's ancestral home–and their long-buried secrets (Rachel Lyon, author of Self-Portrait With Boy).
It is the summer of 2015, and Lila De is on the verge of a breakthrough in her career at a prestigious New York publishing house. But when she gets a call from her mother in India, informing her that she's inherited her family's sprawling estate, she must confront the legacy of an extended family that she thought she left behind sixteen years ago.
Returning to Kolkata reunites Lila with her mother after a decade of estrangement, and then there are her grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all of whom still live in the house, all of whom resent her sudden inheritance. To make matters more complicated, her first boyfriend seeks her out when she arrives, and her star author—and occasional lover—is suddenly determined to make things serious.
As Lila tries to come to terms with both past and present, long-suppressed secrets from her family emerge, culminating in an act of shocking violence, and she must finally reckon with her inherited custom of keeping everything under the surface.
Wise, witty, and deeply moving, The Magnificent Ruins is an utterly addictive read and a stunning debut.
"So many of Roy's pages are a love letter to Kolkata…her writing truly shines" ―New York Times Book Review
"Roy's roomy novel draws us deep into the way family history is inscribed on buildings. With The Magnificent Ruins, she proves herself a daring architect, taking full advantage of this sprawling plot to explore a family shaken to its foundation… I'm smitten… Eight thousand miles doesn't feel so far away when we're traveling with a writer this inviting."―Washington Post
"A deliciously long book, The Magnificent Ruins is riveting from its first page to its last." ―BookPage
"Sharp-eyed and vividly detailed, Roy's debut explores secrets, shifting identities, the clash between tradition and modernity, and the overwhelming gravitational pull of family." ―Shelf Awareness
This information about The Magnificent Ruins was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Nayantara Roy is a television executive at STARZ/ Lionsgate, where she oversees the acquisition and creative development of original scripted television series. Prior to STARZ, she worked at Endeavor Content series (Normal People, Nine Perfect Strangers) and at AGBO, Joe and Anthony Russo's television studio. In 2018, Tara won the Rick Demarinis Short Story Prize for her short story, 8C. Originally from India, she is a 2020 alumni of the CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacific Executives in Entertainment) Leaders Program and at STARZ, is a jury member of the STARZ #TakeTheLead director's program, which is designed to create more directing opportunities for women and people of color. Her plays have been performed internationally, including at Prithvi Theater in Mumbai, India and Contact Theater, Manchester, UK. She lives in Silverlake, Los Angeles.
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