The Dream Builders

The story of a fictional new city in India, on the outskirts of Delhi, and its inhabitants. The narrative centres around Maneka, who returns to India from the US after many years of absence. Her three months of meeting old acquaintances, meeting new people, and learning more about herself are the main thread the book. It's hard to summarise what the book is about, but, among many things, it talks about the conflict between the old and the new in India, the increasingly aware poor who want better lives for themselves and their families, happiness and what causes it, family and friends, and belonging (or lack thereof).

I personally loved it. What struck me most was the writing style, and the attentive description of the day-to-day lives of the characters. The book is full of minute details of what people eat, what they wear, where the sweat, what their rooms look like, what they smell, etc. It really made this book come to life for me, and did wonders to bringing the story to like, and making it difficult to put down. It was a truly immersive experience, and I felt myself truly living this reality.

I loved the characters, and the author's incredibly credible attempt at bring the story to life through ensuring that the perspective of each character had a chance to be told and explained. While this takes away ambiguity, it enables us to see how the conflicts between people don't need bad intentions to emerge. There is something solemn and universal in the result, which helps the reader see the full breadth and depth of the experience the author seeks to convey.

I also liked the author's attentive weaving of the social, the political, and the psychological. This really helps convey a universal message via the book - the impact of change on the people experiencing it. While this book is suffused by India, it also has a universal tone and the multi layered approach to the various issues is at the core of it.

I can't recommend it enough. While I read multiple books trying to convey what life in contemporary India feels like, this effort ranks among the best in its style, pacing, breadth, multi dimensionality, and character richness. It is a monumental effort, and I feel very privileged to have read it. While it clearly borrows a lot from other novels (Man in Tower comes to mind, as well as the more recent Minor Disturbances at Grand Life Apartments by Hema Sukumar), it's a great and impressive effort.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.