Shortlisted for the Spread the Word : Books to Talk About 2008.
The title of the book means love and smell and this beautifully written novel is full of both! The story follows the lives of a Sikh couple from India in 1947 through to the present in England. It is a big, absorbing family saga full of fascinating characters, incident and a quiet humour. The accurate observance of the mundane and the interesting insights in the Sikh culture, wrapped round a tale of everyday life, is masterfully done. A very fine book indeed. Highly recommended.
When Sarna Singh leaves the lustrous green hills of Uganda for England, rows of cramped old houses were not what she was expecting. Husband Karam has brought her to Clapham Common, hoping that the greenery will remind her of Kampala.But Sarna is convinced they have moved to England so he can visit his secret London lady friends. She has a devastating secret of her own. How long before Sarna’s web of deceit destroys her own family?
Against a backdrop that spans Partition from India, Elizabeth II’s Coronation and Churchill’s funeral, to the present day, Priya Basil’s explosive family drama is passionate and moving.
'With a verve for the colour of life, this book ...surprises with its underlying wisdom' – Good Housekeeping’s 6 Great Reads
‘Brilliantly woven …clever and often funny’ Candis
‘The product of a deft hand that mixes engrossing narrative with unexpected dashes of magical realism’ India Today
Author
About Priya Basil
Priya Basil was born in London in 1977. She spent her childhood in Kenya and now divides her time between London and Berlin. The Obscure Logic of the Heart is her second novel.
