Release Date: July 15/2014
Acquired: e-ARC provided by publisher
Goodreads: ADD
Purchase: Amazon/Indigo/Book Depository
After Indian Independence Arjun brings his family to London, but hopes of a better life rapidly dissipate. His wife Sunila spends all day longing for a nice tea service, his son suddenly hates anything Indian, and his daughter, well, that’s a whole other problem. As he struggles to enforce the values he grew up with, his family eagerly embraces the new.
But when Arjun’s right leg suddenly fails him, his sense of imbalance is more than external. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, he is forced to question his youthful impatience and careless cruelty to his family, until he learns, ultimately, to love them despite — or because of — their flaws. In a series of tender and touching glimpses into the shared life of a married couple, Sandra Hunter creates strikingly sympathetic characters — ones that remind us of our own shortfalls, successes, hypocrisies, and humanity.
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There is something to be said about a book that bares it's soul in the simplest of ways. Losing Touch was 224 pages of a narrative done very well, and using the smallest amount of words to do so. It was a tribute to life, real life, yours and mine, and the person next to you on the subway train who looks as composed as can be. This book was a quiet longing, for acceptance, for understanding, and for unfulfilled desires. Sandra Hunter lulled me with her writing, in the most sincere sense. I thoroughly appreciated this piece of literature.I won't go into a synopsis, because in the vein of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Losing Touch is a book to be experienced, not spoken about. It begins in 1966, and each chapter is a new year, and occasionally, a new narrator. The reader is taken on a lifelong journey through the life of an Indian family, who banked their hopes on an immigration to England. Old customs are longed for, current trends are tried on for size, and almost every moment is spent in an attempt to understand, and accept, to discard, and disapprove. The characters in Losing Touch were poignantly beautiful, and yet I couldn't relate to a single one-which wasn't a qualm, because I loved the book so much more for it. I enjoyed being an outsider, and found immense pleasure in the moments, as opposed to the voices. It was with each new block of clarity, and truth, spoken or not, that I realized what a powerful book I was reading.
Sometimes there is no need for extra pages to tell a story, especially not a story that rang as true as Losing Touch. Sandra Hunter's writing was immense. Each chapter held the punch of a short story. I would have rated this book the same, upon reading only one of those chapters. But I'm glad I kept on, because this book became a beacon. It became the first book to relay the trials and tribulations of immigration in such a human way. In a large way, it made me wonder what my own life would have been like, had I been a lot older when my family immigrated from Trinidad to Canada. What kind of person would I be now? WOULD I have been different?
Losing Touch surprised me, and as many readers would surely agree, there is absolutely nothing like being thrown by a piece of literature, whether it be for the best, or for the worst. Discussions will arise either way, and I definitely can't wait to hear what people have to say about this book.
Recommended for fans of: Historical Fiction, Cultural Fiction, Contemporary, The Isolation Door by Anish Majumdar, Painted Hands by Jennifer Zobair.
Challenges: Goodreads 100 Book Goal
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Work stuff: I teach at Moorpark College. I walk in with a lesson plan, but often class discussions shoot off in fascinating directions.
Yum stuff: I love (gluten-free) cake. Still on a quest to round up the perfect gluten-free cupcake, but these little almond-cherry cherubs came close. If only Moustache Baked Goods could ship them...
Random stuff: I'm less scared of horses since I met the most wonderful young shire horse who absolutely nudged me to pieces so I'd take his picture. How could I resist? He stuffed his nose into my pockets, too, so I'll have to arm myself with carrots before I go out trail-jogging again.
I want to go to Patagonia and see the beluga whales. My favorite weather is cold: leaves rimed with frost, breath-clouds, rabbit tracks in the snow. I live in California.
Contact Links
Thank-you to Lisa from TLC Book Tours for hosting this tour, and to Oneworld Publications for sending me e-ARC to review!
This books sounds so good! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with your readers!
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