Burnt Sugar is the debut novel by Avni Doshi and is already much in news because of its longlisting for the 2020 Booker Prize. The book was originally published in India as ‘Girl in White Cotton’. The book is set in modern day India and explores a complex mother-daughter relationship amidst the change of roles from being a daughter to becoming a caregiver for an elderly mother.
The main character and narrator is Antara who has always had a strained relationship with her mother, Tara. When Antara was young, her mother Tara left her husband and lived at an ashram for several years as the disciple and favorite mistress of the legendary Guru. Here she largely abandons Antara resulting in a rift that never properly healed. When Tara leaves ashram, both mother and daughter spent some time on streets living as beggars. Later Antara spends a disastrous year in a Catholic boarding school. Tara starts another affair with an artist who leaves her after few years.
Now years later, Tara’s memory is starting to fail her and Antara is forced into the role of a caregiver. But their lifelong difficult relationship is making it hard for Antara. Just as Tara is starting to lose her memory, Antara starts to analyze her past behavior and its implications on her marriage. When Antara gives birth to a daughter of her own, she struggles with post-partum depression.
The author has split the book in two alternating storylines, one about the present day events where Antara is struggling to make her mark as a visual artist and trying to fit in the role of a caregiver and one re-telling Antara’s childhood, especially the time she spent in the ashram. The author has tried to decipher the complex mother-daughter relationship but the story failed to captivate me.
The story starts to drag in between. A myriad of well-known themes like classism, religious tensions, gurus and ashrams, beggars, over-bearing mother-in-law etc. are introduced but none of them fully explored. I felt like the author has deliberately put in so many themes to grab eyeballs. The ashram storyline, which is the most intriguing part of the book, is not explored properly. For a book that has been hailed for its portrayal of troubled mother-daughter relationship, I found it somehow lacking. We get to hear the daughter’ side of story but not the mother’s point of view.
The emotions expressed seemed so artificial, caustic and over the top. I mean, I can understand Antara’s bitterness but wanting to fuck her estranged father while her stepmother makes tea? That was just so disgusting. Equally disgusting are the garish descriptions of the abject human body. We have bodily fluids and waste, rotting flesh, body parts being compared to food or objects, the filth, stray dogs, dogs having sex and what not. It just gets gross at times that I wanted to throw the book away in disgust.
If I talk about the characters, then there is not even one likeable character in the book. Tara is a strong-willed, free-spirited and selfish woman who gave birth to a daughter but failed to take fulfill the responsibility of being a parent. She lives her life to the fullest, indulging in pleasures of the flesh while remaining unmindful of her daughter who really needs her. Antara has never been able to leave her traumatic childhood behind and this impacts her own life in so many ways. Dileep, her NRI husband is emotionally distant and fails to fathom the restlessness of his wife. Both Tara and Antara have dominating mothers-in-law who only add up stress in their lives.
What I appreciated about the book was its fearless portrayal of the complex feelings a caregiver can experience while trying to care for a person they have a difficult relationship with. Antara feels angry and helpless because her mother is showered with understanding and pity but nobody really tries to understand her. Also, the portrayal of post-partum depression is effectively distressing in its directness. The narrative is fairly fluid – one really gets the sense of being in the Antara’s head as thoughts come and go – some about the irony of the present situation; others about how she ended up with bitterness she has now.
But for some reason I just could not click with this book. If you were able to appreciate this novel, it’s good. But this book was just nor the one for me. All in all a major disappointment!
My Rating: 2.5/ 5
Title: Burnt Sugar/ A Girl in White Cotton
Author: Avni Doshi
Genre: Domestic Fiction
Page count: 288
Nominations: Booker Prize
Originally published: 25 August 2019
Author: Avni Doshi
©2020 Shaloo Walia All rights reserved