"Set in 1970s Bombay, the novel explores art, ambition, gender roles and class with the same shimmering prose of Swamy's first book, the story collection A House Is a Body."-San Francisco Chronicle"[A] sublime, boundary-pushing exploration of sexuality, creativity, and love."-NPR In this transfixing novel, a young woman comes of age in 1960s- and 1970s-era Bombay, a vanished world that is complex and indelibly rendered. Vidya's childhood is marked by the shattering absence and then the bewildering reappearance of her mother and baby brother at the family home. Restless, observant, and longing for connection with her brilliant and increasingly troubled mother, Vidya navigates the stifling expectations of her life with a vivid imagination until one day she peeks into a classroom where girls are learning kathak, a dazzling, centuries-old dance form that requires the utmost discipline and focus. Her pursuit of artistic transcendence through kathak soon becomes the organizing principle of her life, even as she leaves home for college and falls in complicated love with her best friend. As the uncertain future looms, she must ultimately confront the tensions between romantic love, her art, and the legacy of her own imperfect mother.
Lyrical and deeply sensual, with writing as mesmerizing as kathak itself, Shruti Swamy's The Archer is a bold portrait of a singular woman coming of age as an artist-navigating desire, duty, and the limits of the body. It is also an electrifying and utterly immersive story about the transformative power of art, and the possibilities that love can open when we're ready.
The Archer is a beautifully lyrical and gently written coming of age story set in the 1960s and '70s in Bombay/Mumbai. Originally released in 2021, this reformat which coincides with the paperback release came out 9th Aug. It's 320 pages, and is also available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats from the Algonquin Press.
The author, Shruti Swamy, is a gifted wordsmith. There's a precise and conscious use of language which sometimes felt a tiny bit overwrought. She also has something worthwhile to say, so the writing is absolutely not window dressing in this case; there's a substantial story conveyed in the prose.
There was a pervasive sense of sadness and wistfulness about the limits imposed on the main character by her family situation and to a larger degree, her culture. The metaphor of a type of dance with a still center and wildly whirling and kinetic outside movement are aptly used to mirror the realities of Vidya's existence.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the settings as well as the minutiae of the dance included in the story. Highly recommended for fans of slice-of-life stories and family sagas. Competently written.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
