Thanks to John Murray Press and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. 

This is an interesting and enigmatic little novella. It can easily be read in one sitting which was a bonus for me as I started reading it on a plane. I really enjoy South Asian fiction although I tend to mostly read female authors I thought it was time to give the blokes a chance. 

The story follows two points of view, that of Somlata and Boshon, two Bengali women whose stories play out at different points in time. Also featured are their large extended family, including Pishima - the Aunt Who Wouldn't Die. 

This story is part family saga, part love story and part ghost story. It's a quit and enigmatic little tale and written in a simple, yet compelling, style. It's quite difficult to know what's lost when a book has been translated, but the unique Bengali humour and cultural voice shines through in the writing. 

I would have liked to have seen more of Boshon's story and although it was a deliberate narrative choice, I didn't really like the way her story ended so abruptly. 

Overall, an enjoyable read and recommended for anyone who enjoys South Asian fiction.

A strange little novel.

Somlata married Chakor Mitra Chowdhury when she was eighteen. The Chowdhury family had been very wealthy, but as each generation came along, thinking that they didn't have to work, the money, gold and land started to dwindle. Somlata watched in horror and through her cunning, managed to get her husband to open a shop. 

Back in the home they shared with all the other members of the family, the idea that one of the family had opened a shop was at treated with disdain, except for the aunt who never left her room, she saw that Somlata was the one person who might save the family. But why then did Somlata feel that this aunt, now dead just wouldn’t leave her alone?

A strange story with stranger characters. The writing is utterly beautiful. I’m sure that this story will be enjoyed by many, simply because it’s so unique. 

Dietes

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This was a very different type of book from my normal choice, and I found it interesting, if a little hard-going at times.  I am glad I persevered, as it has definitely broadened my horizons with an entertaining story, full of memorable characters.

I think translators of foreign books are very brave. Just this simple process can turn a great book (in it's native language) into a mediocre one.

In this case I think they have done a good job. Yes, the text still feels stiff at times but on the whole it flows well. This short and almost traditional tale of generations of Bengali women trying to keep hold of power in the home even after death, cleverly spins around the new young bride who thinks nobility comes with her husband.

This book is full of vibrant and sharp thinking, at times amusing and sad. It stayed with me long after I'd finished it, always a good sign. Loved it!

I like to read as widely as possible, and that includes translations of novels that have been popular in their country or culture of origin. There’s always the niggle that the translator might have missed some of the original nuances of the story or narrative voice, but it’s still interesting to see how attitudes, situations, and story-telling tropes differ around the world. This short (to western eyes) novel was written by a Bengali author living in India and draws its setting and characters very much from that world, with much of the action revolving around the home of a once-wealthy family, most especially the newest member of the household, and her attempts to fix the situation using methods that don’t involve selling off more assets than have already been disposed of, simply for their cash value.

Somlata comes from an impoverished background and knows the importance of hard work and careful financial planning. Her new husband’s family, however, consider most forms of employment beneath them, and so finance their lifestyle by means of selling off land and jewels with no thought of reinvesting the proceeds to provide them with an ongoing income. When the oldest woman in the household, the widow of Somlata’s father-in-law’s brother, dies unexpectedly, Somlata finds herself haunted by a ghost who instructs her first to locate and re-hide the old woman’s jewellery box and then taunts her with tales of long-hidden family secrets.

The ghost plays tricks on Somlata and her in-laws, causing her to burn or over-season the dishes she prepares for them, and others to suffer falls or become mute when they seem likely to reveal their suspicions as to the whereabouts of the jewellery box. Wanting to rectify the situation, Somlata manages to raise enough money to set her husband up in a shop, a role he and his family at first resist but soon come to enjoy. Somlata, too, enjoys the new freedoms provided to her by the business and by her new found prosperity, even as she at times is forced to go against the wishes of the family in order that they don’t disrupt her success.

This story is intercut with another, set some two decades later, in which Somlata’s daughter also enjoys unexpected freedoms, while living in the part of the house once occupied by the old woman whose jewellery box Somlata is still hiding. It took me a while to ascertain how the two stories were linked, which may have been due to a lack of background knowledge on my part, and I did find some of the assumptions that seemed to be expected of readers to pass me by.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but I could have done with a few more expository sentences to keep me on track.

Somlata marries into a noble, but increasingly poor family, whose men have never worked a day in their lives. She is terrorised by the matriarch, Great Aunt Pishima, and even more so when she discovers Pishima’s dead body and her ghost begins to haunt Somlata.

The ghost of Pishima demands that Somlata takes and hides her jewellery box, before giving one piece of bad advice after another, potentially jeopardising the fortunes of the family.

It is then up to Somlata to find the best solution.

For me, this story worked on a variety of levels. First, it shows the change in a society’s attitude towards women over three generations, from the starved widow, to the background entrepreneur, to the young woman riding a scooter and shunning marriage.

Second, it was hard to tell whether the story criticised the role that women had to take in pushing for the success of the family, or lauded it. Certainly each time Pishima spoke, it was like a bad spirit trying to lead Somlata astray from her wifely duty. Yet in many ways the story was quite feminist, particularly when Boshan’s voice appeared.

Third, the humour was quiet and wry – like a Bengali Kafka, but wrapped up in a culture that is fascinated by rebirth and reincarnation.

Overall, it was quite different to something that I would normally read and I really enjoyed it.

My review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay tells us the story of Somlata, who gets married at 18 to a man from a noble but impoverished family.

The newly weds live with his extended family in a large house, with Aunt Pishima as the matriarch of the family.  When she dies, her ghost haunts Somlata, and it is up to Somlata to fix the family's fortunes.

This was a quick read, but enjoyable, with all of the characters lifelike, and Somlata a heroine you could cheer on.

The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die was published on 11th July 2019,  and is available to buy on Amazon  and on Waterstones.  I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!


You can find out more about Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay on Wikipedia as he has written a lot of books in Bengali, and this edition has been translated into English.

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to John Murray Press (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

I still couldn't decide by the close of this book whether I really enjoyed it or not.
I loved the portrayal of the family background at the outset and was intrigued enough to wonder what was going to happen to the main character. Would she be able to overcome the financial difficulties they faced by building a successful business or would she succumb to the temptation offered by the family gold? 
Somehow the inclusion of the ghost just didn't work for me, although a very efficient tool for introducing the battle of the conscience.

Thank you to NetGalley and John Murray Publishers for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

A young bride is taken to stay in her husband's home on their marriage. She meets his aunt who stays in the middle level of the house. She keeps her door open and sees everything. One day the aunt gives her, the jewellery box, and she tells her to hide it. The aunt dies soon after but continually appears in their home in a white sari. A gentle tale that takes you through her life, lumps, bumps and all. A good read but a book that makes you think.

This isn't an author I'm familiar with, but having read other books set in and around India, I've found I've enjoyed reading of tales based on cultural traditions in this part of the world.  It is a very quick read, and I sat and read it in one sitting.  However, for me the tale was too simple and I did not feel a great deal of depth to it.  This is a translation from the original text, and whether this has meant something has been lost by being translated from the original language, for me I did not feel any empathy or connection with any of the characters.  It is a very simple tale of a large family who live together.  One day an aunt within the family dies, but one family member is unable to be rid of her ghost.  If you have read similar books as this and enjoyed it then this may be as equally as enjoyable.  However, sadly this wasn't a book that gripped me..

Eighteen year old Somlata marries into a once aristocratic family whose menfolk shun working as an occupation of the lower classes. It is her business sense that eventually propels the family to reclaim their social standing amidst heated debates as to the propriety of her female role. Her daughter,  Boston, determined to remain single and financially independent, inherits the most prized possessions, jewellery and an apartment, of a long deceased great aunt she has never met. However, her great aunt’s spirit appears to have captivated Boshon’s every waking moment, compelling Boston on a life path over which she has little control or choice. A compelling read celebrating female power.

I read this book in one setting as I couldn't put it down.
It's an amazing and humorous novella, well written and full of memorable characters.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die is an entertaining Indian novel which shows how women's lives and expectations have totally changed within three generations. I loved the three main characters - bitter widow Pishima, determined entrepreneur Somlata, and carefree teenager Boshon. Each of the two older women's attitudes are shaped as much by the situations in which they find themselves as by their own personalities. I was dismayed at how restricted Pishima's life had been. Married at seven and widowed at twelve, social conventions then had her effectively shut away for the rest of her life, before her life had even really begun. Her anger and bitterness at the world is so very understandable and I appreciated how Mukhopadhyay portrayed this without making her a caricature.



I was surprised at how well Mukhopadhyay understood these women, being a male author himself. The novel's structure is split into four sections, alternating between Somlata and Boshon and it wasn't until the third section that it suddenly dawned on me how the women were connected to each other. I'm not sure if I had missed clues earlier on? A feminist story at heart I think, The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die is rich with detail. It crosses genres but is ultimately a lovely lively heart warming tale which wonderfully evokes life in this singular Bengali family.

This book started well but didn’t seem to develop as much as I had hoped. It is quite short so could have developed the daughter’s story more I think as I would have read more about her.
The characters were described well and it gave a good insight into the culture and lives of the time. The fact that titles rather than names were used for family members caused some confusion as I wasn’t sure who I was reading about some of the time..
A quirky and at times entertaining book but it didn’t grab me.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was quite a complicated read for me at first as it changed from person to person but I soon got into it and enjoyed it. It was very short though, I would have liked it longer. 

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I'm afraid I didn't warm to this book, which was really disappointing as it sounded like something I'd really enjoy.  I quite liked the first chapter, but the change of viewpoint threw me and I didn't engage with Somlata at all and then found the return to Boshun more of the same as in Chapter One.  That's when I decided to give up - sorry!  But thanks to Net Galley and John Murray for letting me read it.

The description attracted me to this book, it was first published in 1993.

Somlata marries into an aristocratic, but cash poor Bengali family, who still have noble aspirations and therefore do not understand the concept of earning a living. To live, they sell off their assets, but even this income source is now in jeopardy. The family lives traditionally in a large house, according to hierarchy. When the matriarch dies, something has to change.

Somlata discovers Roshomoyee's body, and also her ghost, and a quirky tale of strange occurrences,  superstition and change begin.  Somlata is effectively the conduit for the ghost's wishes, and this empowers her and makes her a feared by some members of her new family.  Her actions directed by the deceased Aunt bring the family to its lowest ebb, but her sense of empowerment grows and she becomes the key to their survival.

Three generations of women are featured; Roshomoyee, the aunt by marriage who was married and widowed very young, and feels she has been robbed of her rightful life, Somlata, who is bright and brave, and with a little ghostly help, changes all their lives for the better. Boshon is Somlata's daughter, who believes in herself and her rights, and is not afraid to push against the family's patriarch model. Interestingly Roshomoyee's ghost diminishes when Somlata has her daughter?

The story is short but packed with detail, cultural references and family drama, it is humorous in parts and poignant in others. The style takes a little getting used to but it is an interesting story of tradition and female empowerment.

I received a copy of this book from John Murrays via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A ghost story with a difference. Somlata marries into a rich family who are all a bit lazy, their wealth is disappearing, but they refuse to work as it is beneath them. She comes across the body of her Aunt-in-law, who is living upstairs in the large house that the extended family live in. From then on, she is haunted by her. The first act of the Aunt is to get her to take her jewellry box and hide it. She uses the contents to open a shop and enlists the (reluctant at first) help of the family to try to change the family fortunes.
 It is a very short book and fairly compelling at first but less so towards the end, this may be more to do with the translation than anything else. Has a message about the strength of women in changing times. I enjoyed it overall.
 *Thanks to netgalley for a copy in exchange for honest opions.*

What a strange tale this is.  Somlata comes from a poor family and marries a man called Chakor.  His family live in a huge house and his aunt lives there in by all accounts the best rooms.  She dies suddenly and appears to Somlata as a ghost and orders her to hide her jewellery to prevent the family selling it.  The Aunt appears to Somlata throughout the book and Somlata is also convinced that her only child is the aunt incarnate.

This is not a book I would have picked up if I saw it on the shelf but after I read the description I was intrigued.  The writer/translator captures the scene perfectly and you can sense the fear that the other family members have of Somlata.  She is in fact a formidable woman who transforms the family finances.

This is a story of three generations of women who are dealing with the ever changing world and the impact it has on their culture.  I'm glad I picked it.

What a little treasure of a read , a mix of ghost story and folk tale. Confusing to keep track of family characters but once into the rhythm it’s very enjoyable.  Quick to read and leads the mind to ponder on the problem of secrets within families.