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An epic tale of love and political violence set in earthquake-ravaged Darkmotherland, a dystopian reimagining of Nepal, from the Whiting Award–winning author of Arresting God in Kathmandu.
In Darkmotherland, Nepali writer Samrat Upadhyay has created a novel of infinite embrace—filled with lovers and widows, dictators and dissidents, paupers, fundamentalists, and a genderqueer power player with her eyes on the throne—in an earthquake-ravaged dystopian reimagining of Nepal.
At its heart are two intertwining narratives: one of Kranti, a revolutionary's daughter who marries into a plutocratic dynasty and becomes ensnared in the family's politics. And then there is the tale of Darkmotherland's new dictator and his mistress, Rozy, who undergoes radical body changes and grows into a figure of immense power.
Darkmotherland is a romp through the vast space of a globalized universe where personal ambitions are inextricably tied to political fortunes, where individual identities are shaped by family pressures and social reins, and where the East connects to and collides with the West in brilliant and unsettling ways.
"Dizzyingly complex and dazzlingly written, full of rewards and arch humor for the patient reader." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A web of intrigue fails to cohere in this clumsy doorstopper...Though admirable in its ambition, the novel fails to justify its length. Subplots are neglected for hundreds of pages, and frequent allusions to real-world figures—Taylor Swift, Madonna, and a 'President Corn Hair' with a Twitter habit—undermine Upadhyay's efforts at worldbuilding. Readers will have a tough time with this." —Publishers Weekly
"Darkmotherland is Samrat Upadhyay's magnum opus, full of narrative energy and dramatic dynamics. With a Dickensian sweep and a vast cast of characters, Upadhyay created an ancient world saturated with the spirit of our time and shaped by political ambition and dark vision; hence the unavoidable violence of destruction. It is also a world that at times vibrates surreal resonances. A grand novel indeed." —Ha Jin, National Book Award–winning author of Waiting
"Darkmotherland is an epic with the power of the mythical, while at the same time grounded in our own savage contemporary moment. A stunning, utterly original achievement that lies somewhere in an uncharted realm between Rushdie, Doctor Zhivago, and Game of Thrones." —Dan Chaon, author of Sleepwalk
"Few writers can bring a place to life as vividly as Samrat Upadhyay does. His characters, from those grappling with love and loss to individuals caught in the currents of social change, resonate with a deep humanity that transcends borders." —Amitav Ghosh, author of Smoke and Ashes
This information about Darkmotherland was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Samrat Upadhyay was born and raised in Nepal. He is author of the novels The City Son, The Guru of Love (a New York Times Notable Book), and Buddha's Orphans, as well as the story collections Mad Country, The Royal Ghosts, and Arresting God in Kathmandu. His work has received the Whiting Award and the Asian American Literary Award and been shortlisted for the PEN Open Book Award and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. He has written for the New York Times and has appeared on BBC Radio and National Public Radio. Upadhyay teaches in the creative writing program at Indiana University.
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