There is also the central contradiction of the novel itself: moments of magic realism appear, gleaming like gold dust, along with the emergence of a new world that worships reason and modernity: the stone idols who appear in khaki one night to protect Sivakami’s house; the kai raasi or good luck that Sivakami bestows on each newborn that she helps deliver into the world; and the beadwork Krishnas that she gives to pregnant women in the village for safe childbirths. The catastrophic impact of change is symbolised most powerfully in Vairum’s rage at everything his mother represents. It is this rage that will bring the novel to its weakest point, the ending, where Viswanathan’s considerable narrative powers suddenly lose their way.

The novel is written in an understated present tense that gives the narration an immediacy. In the midst of turbulence, family life is at the heart of the novel, and this is where Viswanathan’s narrative powers excel. At the most heart-breaking point in the novel, the river in flood divides the family members who have already been divided by other distances. When they come together the next day, it is to realise the value of what they have lost.