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REVIEWS
[Amulya Malladi] draws us into the novel with her characters, who
are refreshingly free of stereotype. She has successfully managed to
avoid sentimentality and melodrama in her handling of emotional
material--a near-fatal accident, a child's mortal illness, a
spouse's infidelity. And that is no mean achievement for a
first-time novelist.
--Chitra
Divakaruni, Los Angeles Times
[A Breath of Fresh Air]
is a complex exploration
of love, recrimination and forgiveness...Malladi's subject
is...compelling: the survivors of the Bhopal tragedy remain
neglected and angry after 18 years. [Malladi] was a child in Bhopal
when the disaster happened and wasn't affected because her house was
upwind of the Carbide factory. The victims of the accident now total
14,000, a number Malladi humanizes by keeping her story intimate.
--Jessi
Hempel, TIME
Amulya Malladi's gemlike first
novel has a provocative, almost absurd concept--it's a love story
framed by the horrifying Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India, in
1984...the quality of Malladi's writing elevates [A Breath of]
Fresh Air well above standard-issue book-club fodder, and her
strong control over plot helps her avoid the overwritten narrative
drift that plagues most first novels. Malladi's story is a fine
study of the tenuous control we have over love and memory.
--Mark
Athitakis, SF Weekly
Malladi...writes with
a restraint reminiscent of Anita Desai...she has captured the
emotional ramifications of a disaster such as Bhopal with maturity
and dignity. I challenge you not to shed a tear.
--Susan
Kurosawa, The Weekend Australian
Amulya
Malladi...writes dispassionately and yet movingly of love and
destiny in modern India...[she
takes] humdrum details
of family heartbreak...raising them to the level of clear-eyed,
well-crafted art. Malladi writes with a steady, sure hand;
accumulating details casually, she catches the reader unaware with
the depth of her insight into love and loss.
--Mindi
Dickstein, St.
Petersburg Times
Malladi's writing
style is unadorned and simple....[she] slowly builds up the drama of
a past life and a present life colliding and the child who gets
caught in between...One way to capture the human toll of a disaster
like Bhopal is with a photographer's eye for minute detail. Instead,
Malladi has tried to look at the shadow it casts on the souls of
those who survived and wanted nothing more than to carry on with
their small, ordinary lives.
--Sandip
Roy, San Francisco Chronicle
In simple language,
Malladi tells a simple story of love, betrayal, jealousy, guilt and
forgiveness...A glimpse into a foreign culture is always a treat,
and this novel combines that with characters with whom we can
empathize, as they deal with universal problems and emotions. A
Breath of Fresh Air is a fast and fascinating read.
--Shirley
Saad, United Press International (Book of the Week)
This sensitive and moving first
novel...is rich in insight into Indian culture and psychology, while
it presents truths which are universal.
--Yvonne
Crittenden, The Toronto Sun
The
refreshing aspect of Malladi's maiden novel is the narrative style.
Read the book...you'll get your money and time's worth.
--Puja
Birla, Indian Express |
