Evening Is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan

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Atonement comes to Malaysia in this masterfully constructed tale of the prosperous Rajasekharan family. One unbearably hot September morning, the family's servant girl, Chellam, is sent packing as a result of an unnamed crime. In her wake, she leaves Aasha, a six-year-old girl haunted by ghosts, who has recently suffered two additional losses: the departure of her older sister to college in the United States, and the death of her grandmother.

Circling back and forth through time to reveal the history of a family and a land divided, Evening Is the Whole Day tracks the fortunes of one Indian immigrant family, and the secrets and lies that bind them together and force them apart. It also illuminates the span of a life -- a life that acquires weight and momentum and becomes much more than a series of distractions and misfortunes; a life that holds out the possibility that anything can happen.

In her first novel, Samarasan displays a prodigious gift for lyrical narration, complex characterization, and dramatic breadth of vision. (Fall 2008 Selection)

From the Publisher

Set in Malaysia, this spellbinding first novel by an acclaimed young writer introduces us to the prosperous Rajasekharan family as it slowly peels away its closely guarded secrets.

Translation rights have been sold in twelve territories.

When the family's rubber-plantation servant girl is dismissed for unnamed crimes, it is only the latest in a series of precipitous losses that have shaken six-year-old Aasha's life. In the space of several weeks her grandmother died under mysterious circumstances and her older sister, Uma, left for Columbia University, gone forever. Circling through years of family history to arrive at the moment of Uma's departure—stranding her worshipful younger sister in a family, and a country, slowly going to pieces—Evening Is the Whole Day illuminates in heartbreaking detail one Indian immigrant family's layers of secrets and lies, while exposing the complex underbelly of Malaysia itself. Sweeping in scope, exuberantly lyrical, and masterfully constructed, Preeta Samarasan's debut is a mesmerizing and vital achievement sure to earn her a place alongside Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, and Zadie Smith.

The New York Times - Allegra Goodman

Deftly switching points of view, and flitting backward and forward in time, Samarasan constructs a narrative that opens outward even as it deepens, revealing the wounds and secrets within each character…even if the seams don't match perfectly, Samarasan's fabric is gorgeous. Her ambitious spiraling plot, her richly embroidered prose, her sense of place, and her psychological acuity are stunning. Readers, responding to the setting, will immediately compare her to Kiran Desai. I think Samarasan's dialogue and description are reminiscent of Eudora Welty, another woman who knew how to write about family and race and class and secrets and heat.

Publishers Weekly

Set on the outskirts of Ipoh in Malaysia, Samarasan's impressive debut chronicles another bad year in the Big House on Kingfisher Lane. With the death of Paati, the grandmother, and the disgraceful departure of Chellam, the family's servant girl, the wealthy Rajasekharan family is in shambles. Skillfully jumping from one consciousness to another, Samarasan moves back in time to reveal the secrets that have led to the family's unraveling. Father Raju's dreams have been stifled by his unrealized political ambitions, and his home life is no consolation. Vasanthi, his wife, bristles at reminders of her lower-class roots and wouldn't mind seeing Uma, their oldest daughter, "destroyed by an endless string of disappointments." Uma all but disconnects herself from the family in anticipation of escaping to Columbia University, and her six-year-old sister, Aasha, whose desire to recapture Uma's love is a primary focus of the book, must settle for interactions with a ghost only she can see. There's little familial tenderness, and the few instances of compassion displayed (by Raju's visiting brother) are mistaken as perverse. Though the narrative is occasionally unwieldy or claustrophobic, the language bursts with energy, and Samarasan has a sure hand juggling so many distinct characters. (May)

Marika Zemke - Library Journal

This beautifully written debut novel revolves around a wealthy Indian family living in modern-day Malaysia. What seems like a simple act-the firing of the servant girl-has greater implications for the family than it could ever have imagined, especially for six-year-old Aasha. Aasha has a secret, one that could devastate not only her family but also the entire community. Samarasan wisely withholds this secret and others, pulling readers in. Because the description of Malaysia and its diverse population is so achingly lyrical, readers will want to slow down to absorb each word; at other times, as when they get caught up in the family drama, they will want to quicken their pace. This book is destined to be highly sought after by fans of Zadie Smith and Arundhati Roy. Translation rights have at the time of this writing been sold in 14 territories, and national advertising is planned. Highly recommended for public libraries.

Kirkus Reviews

A complex web of public and private histories shared by an Indian immigrant family is painstakingly examined in the ambitious first novel from Malaysia native Samarasan. The Rajasekharans, heirs to a commercial fortune dominated by a successful rubber plantation, seem blessed. Patriarch Raju is a prominent attorney; his beautiful wife Vasanthi has risen far above her humble origins; their brilliant and beautiful eldest daughter Uma is on her way to a prestigious American university (in 1980, when the story's major actions occur), and her younger brother Suresh and sister Aasha seem gifted and responsible enough to emulate the much-admired Uma. But secrets lurk in the Big House on Kingfisher Lane, where Uma's imminent departure is overshadowed by the suspicious death of her paternal grandmother ("Paati"), as well as the dismissal (for undisclosed reasons) of house servant girl Chellam-whose dirt-poor family provides a counterpoint to the privileged lives of her employers. Six-year-old Aasha communes matter-of-factly with her family's ghosts (including that of the outraged Paati). And Aasha's dreamlike discoveries are deftly paralleled by lengthy flashbacks which reveal-with both considerable skill and wearying overemphasis-guilty burdens borne by the ambitious Raju (who seems to have everything and wants even more); both Vasanthi and Paati, each of whom has overstepped marital boundaries; the ever-embittered Chellam; and-a late-arriving yet crucial character-black-sheep "Uncle Ballroom" (Balu), a pathetic underachiever inhibited by all he knows and cannot reveal. Samarasan has probably attempted too much in this overstuffed debut. But she scores impressively with the creation of anintimate, gossipy omniscient narrative voice that's the perfect vehicle for her slowly unfolding, intricately layered story. Agent: Ayesha Pande/Lyons & Pande

Product Details

• ISBN: 061887447X
  
• ISBN-13: 9780618874477
• Format: Hardcover, 352pp
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
• Pub. Date: May 2008
• Sales Rank: 23,710