MOTHER OCEAN FATHER NATION

Set on a fictional Pacific island and in the U.S., this book explores family relationships, the fallout of colonialism, and racism’s dire consequences.

An Indian family with deep roots on the unnamed island is the focus of this debut. Jaipal is the kind and directionless older brother who seeks love from women and especially men; Bhumi is the brilliant sister studying in the capital city. Their mother is a self-sacrificing head of household while their father is a drunken womanizer. Their lives are upended when the leader of a coup sets the “native Christian” population on the Indians for whom the island is home. The menace of the island’s murderous regime is well conveyed in the first part of the novel. Recent violence “meant that being an Indian man in the outside world felt like having a target on him. Being inside was no respite.” After both siblings have close friends disappeared into the night—presumably murdered—and Bhumi’s university closes, the family makes hasty decisions to protect themselves. It is not lost on them that their grandmother arrived on this island to escape similarly dangerous circumstances elsewhere. Sometimes the plot falls into place a little too conveniently: Bhumi escapes to California through her mother’s perfect foresight in getting her papers in order, while the father of the family dies just before Jaipal and his mother are forced to flee. Life in America is not easy for Bhumi; she is exploited by an employer and faces difficult choices. Subtler writing might have offered more emotional heft. However, if the characters do behave as expected, the book places them within an unending cycle of leaving and coming, illustrating the point that when colonists occupy and then abandon a country, autocracy and other humanitarian disasters ensue.

The author does a good job connecting the dots between his characters’ stories and the negative consequences of colonialism.