The inheritance of loss: a novel

I n a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga lives an Lembittered judge who wants only to retire in peace from a world he has found too messy for justice, when his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his doorstep. The judge's cook watches over her distractedly, for his thoughts are claimed by his son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one gritty New York restaurant to another on an elusive search for a green card.

When an Indian Nepali insurgency in the mountains interrupts Sai's romance with her Nepali tutor, and causes their lives to descend into chaos, they are forced to consider their colliding interests. The cook witnesses the hierarchy being overturned and discarded. And the judge must revisit his past, and his own journey and role in their intertwining histories

This majestic novel of our busy, grasping times illuminates the consequences of colonialism and global conflicts of religion, race and narionalism.

A delightfully original book, [The Inheritance of Lon is] a triumph of the storyteller's art, nuanced, and even worthy of the most overworked term luminous -India Todry

[Kiran's] descriptions of the mountains and the people of Kalimpong, the changing seasons, and the inner mindscapes of her characters are mesmerizing her use of language is virtunto, and her

ideas sparkle -The Sunday Expr

"Kiran Desai's new novel manages to explore, with intimacy and insight, just about every contemporary international issue: globalization, economic inequality, fundamentalism and terrorist violence. Despite being set in the mid-rollos, it seems the best kind of post-git novel -New York Times

"The Inberitance of Law is written with scintillating assurance and moral rigour [Is) moves from exotic charm into darker territory, even with horror, as lives are invaded, and nighensare Lanishes peace of mind for the little people swept up in larger events which inevitably crush them Spirtamor