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Ken Dornstein always looked up to his older brother David. David was handsome, popular and successful with women. He was talented, and had dreams of writing the great American novel — dreams his little brother never doubted would come true. Then, at age 25, David died in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland. This memoir begins as the story of Ken’s investigation into David’s death. But as his obsessive enquiries go on, it becomes the story of David’s life, what he meant to Ken — and who he really was. As it moves towards its devastating finale, Ken’s account raises the question: how well do we know the people we love?
The Grip of Change is the English translation of Pazhaiyana Kazhithalum, the first full-length novel by P. Sivakami, an important Tamil writer. This translation also features Asiriyar Kurippu, the sequel in which Sivakami revisits her first work. The protagonist of Book 1, Kathamuthu, is a charismatic Parayar leader. He intervenes on behalf of a Parayar woman, Thangam, beaten up by the relatives of her upper caste lover. Kathamuthu works the state machinery and the village caste hierarchy to achieve some sort of justice for Thangam. The first Tamil novel by a Dalit woman, Pazhaiyana Kazhithalum went beyond condemning caste fanatics. Sivakami is critical of the Dalit movement and the Dalit patriarchy, and yet does not become a ‘caste traitor’ because of her participation in the search for solutions. The novel became an expression of Dalit youth — eager and working for change. In Book 2, Author’s Note, Kathamuthu’s daughter Gowri, the author of Book I, traces the circumstances and events of her novel. The result is a fascinating exploration of the disjunctures between what happens in the author’s family and community, and her fictional interpretations of those happenings.
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The Boy Who Fell Out Of
The Sky
The Grip of Change