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Aunt Pishi married an elderly man when she was 7, and she was widowed at 12. Our main character Somlata comes from a poor family and marries into the once-wealthy Mitra family. Somlata comes into possession of Pishi‘s box of gold jewelry when Pishi dies, gold that would help the family maintain its life of luxury but Pishi‘s ghost threatens Somlata with death if the gold is given away. So, Somlata must find another way to help this family ⬇️

This is a hard book to process as I think on reviewing it. I suspect a large part has to do with cultural differences that the translator described in a note at the end of the book. I appreciated learning this. In addition, the people of #Bangladesh have such very different priorities than I‘m accustomed to. But that‘s the benefit of reading books from around the world-learning the vast differences in our people live their lives. #foodandlit

All about food in this exchange between a ghost and the main character. #Bangladesh #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

Audio coloring tonight

#Bangladesh #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

Thanks to a review by @Bookworm54 I‘m reading this book for my next audiobook. #Bangladesh #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

This was a short novel for #FoodAndLit #Bangladesh

Somlata marries into a family of old wealth (that are going broke). After her elderly aunt-in-law dies, she haunts Somlata, forcing her to hide her jewellery from the family. It also follows Boshon, a teen who doesn‘t believe she needs a man to enjoy life.

This had an abrupt ending, but I did enjoy it!

A short novel-in-translation about family, power, tradition, & the winds of change. A tragic & bitter Auntie, married at the age of 7 & widowed by 12, dies suddenly. She haunts the newest daughter-in-law in a floundering, aristocratic Bengali family. We also get a tale of stubborn independence & first love, focusing on the struggle between the two, told from the POV of the daughter-in-law‘s only child. 👇🏻

Baroma is an open book.... Her affection for me includes force-feeding, anti-slimness propaganda, even opposition to feminism. Still, I can win her over whenever I want. I can ask for anything and get it too.

Baroma almost fainted when Jethu bought me a scooter a year and a half ago. She had a huge fight with him. Apparently she had never seen such a thing in her life. Now she rides pillion behind me.

Photo Tin Nguyen - Unsplash.

I enjoyed this short novel about an extended family in Bengali. Somalta is poor when she marries into the Mitra family but her smarts and determination help her husband‘s family create a successful business. The only problem is she‘s being haunted by her husband‘s aunt. I was interested in the afterward by the translator, and the tales of struggle to translate Bengali swears into English.

Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay‘s literary horror novel (published in India in 1993 but translated into English from Bengali for the first time by Arunava Sinha) is a domestic drama pitting the genuinely malevolent Pishima against the virtuous, obedient Somlata and I liked the alternating sections following her daughter, Boshon, a restless teenager who has forsaken love but the open ending is very frustrating and may alienate some readers.