Just Jennifer

Leela’s Book by Alice Albinia (W.W. Norton, January 2012)


Leela immigrated to America over twenty years ago with her husband and the agreement between the two that she would never return to her native Delhi. Now, she finds herself returning to her homeland as she and her husband Hari prepare for his niece’s wedding to the son of Sanskrit scholar Vyasa, a man who, unbeknownst to Hari, is the husband of Leela’s late sister and part of the puzzle that is the reason that Leela refuses to return to India. Leela’s arrival surprises everyone and knocks everything out of kilter as a poem purported to be that of her late sister, discovered two decades after her death, surfaces, causing great debate among scholars, as the bride’s sister who has been exiled from the family for marrying a Muslim, faces the consequences of her choice; Ash, the groom, is coveting a secret of his own that also has a strange familial twist, and Hari prepares to bring his brother’s son Ram into his business as his heir. Soon everything in Leela’s carefully constructed life begins to fall apart, along with the lives of her family, in-laws and their new families. Facing her past head on, Leela realizes is the only way to cure a broken heart and begin to forgive so she can live life in the present.

Leela’s Book is a lyrical family saga, overseen, and perhaps orchestrated by Ganesh, the elephant-headed scribe of the Mahabhrata. Ganesh, turning human and playing a part in the drama narrates the story from his point of view, describing how he is controlling the events. He is, according to his narrative, the only person who will be able to save Leela from Vyasa from whom she has been running for over twenty years and whom she blames for all that is not right with her life, but who she comes to realize, only has the power over her she allows him to have. Mystical and romantic, Leela and Hari’s family will resonate with readers and stay with them past the final page.