What a magnificent and original novel, introducing the reader to a dreamlike world where the nature of India plays a major role. -- Maryse Condé, author of Segu and I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem This is a tale that goes back through the ages, but that reaches out to us, now, as we subjugate nature to our own ends. Filled with humour, it is nonetheless heart-breaking. -- Ananda Devi, author of The Living Days Fusing history, memory, mythology, and the immediate present, Lakshmis Secret Diary is Ari Gautiers gift to a lost humankind. Meditative and melancholy, whimsical and funny, it breaks free of its location in colonial Pondicherry to meditate on the human condition, on fate and freedom and choice. It lingers long after youve read it. -- Geetanjali Shree, International Booker Prize-winning author of Tomb of Sand Translating a text as subtly complex as Ari Gautiers Lakshmis Secret Diary with the litheness of Sheela Mahadevans English is a considerable accomplishment. In her translation, Gautiers Pondichéry is rich with unforgettable characters, history, and wisdom. -- Matt Reeck, translator of Muslim: A Novel Vibrant. * Asian Review of Books * A rare and remarkable achievement, a work that is at once poetic, political, whimsical, and weighty. * The Daily Star *
