The Story Archive

The Inheritance of Loss

Kiran Desai · 2006 CE · Novel · Indian · Contemporary

A retired judge and his orphaned granddaughter live with their cook in a crumbling house at Kalimpong in the Himalayan foothills during the Gorkhaland uprising of the 1980s. Their story is cut against that of the cook's son, working illegally in New York kitchens; an account of the claims of both global migration and local ethnic politics.

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Attributes

Genre
HistoricalPolitical
Theme
ColonialismClass & InequalityExile & HomecomingIdentity & SelfLoss of InnocenceRace & Identity
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
EverymanWanderer
Form
PolyphonicDual World
Symbol / motif
The MountainThe House
Conflict
vs Society
Mode / tone
RealistIronic
Culture / tradition
Indian

Closest analogues