The House Next to the Factory: As heard on BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime
The House Next to the Factoryshows a changing India over three decades through the lens of one family and the house that they live in.
Life in the house is humdrum and confining, but on a rare evening out, Kavya sets off in search of a nun;a beloved teacher is caught in the aftermath of the anti-Sikh riots;a loyal servant worries over his relationship with a low caste woman; whilein England, an aunt reads William Trevor and pines for all that she has left behind. Over the years, the family's steel utensil business blossoms, and amid the clanging of metal and the churning of machines, the household transitions from bourgeois to elite. Yet at thirty, Kavya finds herself in Paris, hoping to get past the sorrows of her young life...
Delicate and finely textured, Sonal Kohli's extraordinary debut lays bare the complexities of class and culture and the difficulties as well as excitements of change, even as it evokes loves and triumphs, the pull of incongruous desires and the tragedies of everyday life.
Sonal Kohli grew up in Delhi and now lives in Washington, D.C. She has an MA in Creative Writing from UEA, and a BA in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. Her stories have been shortlisted for the Bristol Short Story Prize and the Fish Short Story Prize. This is her first book.
Author: Sonal Kohli
Format: Paperback, 208 pages, 129mm x 198mm
Published: 2023, Swift Press, United Kingdom
Genre: General & Literary Fiction
The House Next to the Factoryshows a changing India over three decades through the lens of one family and the house that they live in.
Life in the house is humdrum and confining, but on a rare evening out, Kavya sets off in search of a nun;a beloved teacher is caught in the aftermath of the anti-Sikh riots;a loyal servant worries over his relationship with a low caste woman; whilein England, an aunt reads William Trevor and pines for all that she has left behind. Over the years, the family's steel utensil business blossoms, and amid the clanging of metal and the churning of machines, the household transitions from bourgeois to elite. Yet at thirty, Kavya finds herself in Paris, hoping to get past the sorrows of her young life...
Delicate and finely textured, Sonal Kohli's extraordinary debut lays bare the complexities of class and culture and the difficulties as well as excitements of change, even as it evokes loves and triumphs, the pull of incongruous desires and the tragedies of everyday life.
Sonal Kohli grew up in Delhi and now lives in Washington, D.C. She has an MA in Creative Writing from UEA, and a BA in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. Her stories have been shortlisted for the Bristol Short Story Prize and the Fish Short Story Prize. This is her first book.