Haunting Bombay

I have just re-read Haunting Bombay. I met the author when the book was first published. The second read - after reading India for 20+ years, gave me deeper appreciation of this marvelous book. With an accumulated knowledge of this country and especially Bombay, the story took on new meanings and I saw the whole and individual parts of the book with new eyes. Sadly this is the only 'India" book she has written. With that in mind, if you love intrigue, intense characters and a view of a different culture - portrayed authentically, this is must read. I loved both times. Suspect I willed it again.

From my perspective, this is a gorgeous piece of work! The tapestry of India that is woven and the lyrical command over words astonished me and at times, took my breath away. I also appreciated the ending and thought that it revealed due empathy towards marginalized segments of society. I think this is great talent, and I hope it goes places. I am going to recommend it to people in India as well.

If you long for travel to far-away places and really love to lose yourself in a book, then read Haunting Bombay. With beautiful visual descriptions and captivating story-telling Agarwal has written a novel that successfully achieves something that I find rare: a really good work of literature that defies categorization: historical, magical-realistic fiction--maybe? Haunting Bombay reminded me of Toni Morrison's, Beloved, with its sensitive, masterful combining of the fantastic with the real. This is a brilliant first novel.

Once in a long while you come across a story that is incredibly well-written and beautifully told. Haunting Bombay is one of those stories. With descriptive, lyrical prose and wonderful imagery of post-modern India, this story is about love, heartache, difficult life-decisions and being a woman in a society where only the privileged seem to matter. I couldn't put this book down and now that I finished it, I am reading it again. There is so much suspense and don't worry, it isn't a scary ghost story! Have a great journey!

After cracking this book, my plans for the day were shot. I stayed up until early morning to finish it. It could have been all that lovely detail, I'm a sucker it. I couldn't believe Publisher's Weekly said it clogged the book. The details in Haunting Bombay do more than paint a picture, they took me on a tour of a completely different world from my own. I felt the rustle of silk across my skin, was drenched by the monsoon rain, and smelled the spiciness of afternoon tea. Not only that, but I got to feel the repression of a girl where women have few opportunities and no voice. It surprised me that the men in the story were also repressed by their culture, weighed down by their own cultural expectations and obligations. What else kept me reading? Ms. Agarwal did a first-rate job on creating a thrilling mystery filled with spirits who are not just embellishments, but full-drawn characters in their own right. The author had real compassion for all her characters, ghosts or otherwise, and it made them so much more appealing and believable. Be careful, you may find yourself haunted by them long after you close the pages of this beautiful book. I look forward to reading more from this promising first-time author.

Shilpa Agarwal's debut novel is written with the deft hand of one who truly knows how to tell a good story. Her characters come to life on the very first page, and as she weaves the story, creating such mystery and intense yearning to know the secrets hidden in the souls of these characters who by the end feel like old friends, she leaves the reader breatheless, spent, slightly disoriented, not wanting the story to end. Haunting Bombay is so good you'll have to read it many times because you'll be reading so fast, caught up in the drama, that every time will be like reading it anew.