THE ENGLISH PROBLEM

Is it a curse or a blessing to live though the proverbial “interesting times?”

Upon meeting Mahatma Gandhi—a guest in his family’s home—for the first time at the age of 10, Shiv Advani tells the legendary Indian statesman that he wishes to be just like him when he gets older. Gandhi encourages him, but reminds him it will require both hard work and the relinquishment of all desire. Shiv believes, naively, he can follow the path set out for him, but the lures of personal contentment and satisfaction tempt him all the way through Kamlani’s examination of the tumultuous years before India’s independence from British rule. Sent to study law in London as an 18-year-old at Gandhi’s behest, Shiv has a goal of becoming proficient in British law and returning to India to advance the independence movement through non-violent means. Over his years of legal education, training, and early practice in England, Shiv becomes more aware of the costs of self-denial and of the nuances—sometimes cruel—of British culture. Shiv’s growing awareness of his own sexuality and his place within a culture which often treats him with disdain takes place against the backdrop of slow-moving political and cultural transformations in both Britain and India and the advancing threat of World War II. Inspired by her uncle’s experiences, Kamlani’s story of one man’s odyssey of discovery contains extensive historical context. Replete with lyrical imagery of rivers, the saga confronts issues of racism, class disparities, parenthood, and sexual acceptance. A tour de force moment of period-appropriate cultural dissection occurs when Shiv’s British lover attempts to provide a crash course in how to be “one of us.”

Kamlani’s ambitious debut packs an important dose of relevant history into a very human story.