Escaping her failing marriage in the United States, Grace Marisola has returned to Pondicherry to cremate her mother. Once there, she receives an unexpected inheritance—a property on the isolated beaches south of Madras—and discovers a sister: Lucia, four years older, who has spent her life in a residential facility.
Settling into the pink house on its spit of wild beach, Grace builds a new and precarious life with Lucia, the village housekeeper Mallika, the drily witty Auntie Kavitha, and an ever-multiplying band of dogs, led by the golden Raja. In the lush wilderness of Paramankeni, with its vacant bus stops colonized by flying foxes, its temples shielded by canopies of teak and tamarind, Grace feels that she has come to the very end of the world. But her attempts to leave her old self behind prove first a struggle, then a strain, as she discovers the chaos, tenderness, fury, and bewilderment of life with Lucia.
In fierce, lyrical prose, Doshi presents an unflinching portrait of contemporary India, exploring the tensions between urban and rural life, modernity and tradition, duty and freedom. Luminous, funny, surprising, and heartbreaking, Small Days and Nights is a story of the ties that bind, the secrets we bury, and the sacrifices we make to forge lives that have meaning.
Download and start listening now!
“This novel, perfect for fans of Lauren Groff and Kate Atkinson, is awash in poetic language, sensory-rich scenes and fully formed characters.”
— Shelf Awareness
"Small Days and Nights starts off with a simple premise that becomes a shattering study of disaffection and belonging.”
— The Guardian (London)“Doshi certainly writes with eyes wide open, never minimizing the challenges and the failures that prove both damning and redemptive.”
— BooklistBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Siiri Scott is the head of acting and directing in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame, where she coordinates classes, directs and prepares actors for graduate training and professional careers. She received her MFA in Acting from the Theatre School at DePaul University and has directed, performed and taught in regional theaters in Chicago, Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Seattle.