The Last Song of Dusk

Shanghvi, Siddharth Dhanvant

ISBN 10: 1559707348 / ISBN 13: 9781559707343

Published by Arcade Publishing, 2004

About this Item

The book has a little waviness to the pages. The dust jacket is unclipped ($23.95). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 number line. Signed by the author on the title page.

Seller Inventory # 007035

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Last Song of Dusk
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1559707348
• ISBN 13: 9781559707343
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st US Edition 1st Printing.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

Possessing a legendary beauty and singing voice, Anuradha Patwardhan of 1920s India begins a fairy-tale-like adulthood when she marries handsome and well-to-do doctor Vardhmaan, but their married years are challenged by the death of a first child, a villain's designs on their second child, and the arrival of a mysterious girl. 15,000 first printing.

Review

At the end of his debut novel The Last Song of Dusk, self-styled Bombaywallah Siddharth Shanghvi lists the artists to whom he owes a "debt of music": Bach and Elgar jostle with John Barry and Dido. An equally eclectic and unexpected range of melodies play key roles in this magical, moving tale of love, friendship and dark desire.

Anuradha--the latest in a family line of females gifted with magical songs arrives in Bombay to test the sensitivity of her betrothed, Dr Vardhmaan Gandharva. Passing his test in the nick of time, the newlyweds enjoy an extended honeymoon, spending sultry evenings on their bedroom balcony listening to music and waltzing in tune with their hearts. Their passion for one another protects them from the harsh realities of life, until a stormy night threatens to wrench them apart.

Returning to her family in Udaipur, Anuradha meets the feline orphan Nandini, who has an extraordinary gift for painting her subject's souls and an insatiable appetite for Yeats, a hunger that will one day rise up to haunt her. Back in Bombay the love-worn couple and the precocious artist move into a house and friendships are forged both true and false and the words of Anuradha's mother "in this life, there is no mercy" ring through their lives and those around them. With a gift for epic story-telling akin to Rushdie and Marquez--Siddharth Shanghvi's stunning debut is full of promise. His lyrical prose skilfully blends magical references with stark realism. The Last Song of Dusk is a wise and intuitive novel about the many and varied ways in which human beings love, live and forgive, told with humour, passion and great understanding. --Carey Green