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Dr Khem K Aryal’s forthcoming short story collection ‘The In-Betweeners’ from Braddock Avenue Books is about the quest of identity pursued by Nepali immigrants who try to fit in the diverse culture of the United States. The characters in the book, especially the generation that migrated, demonstrate a strong sense of belongingness to their native land. They are confused if they should continue living the rest of their lives in the new country or return back to their place of origin. The title is justifiable considering the confusion and dilemma the characters experience while choosing one over the other.

In ‘Laxman Sir in America’ the experience of loss of identity is so bitter that Mr. Laxman, a school teacher back in Nepal plans to return but his wife and children are Americanizing. His personal interest is blocked by realistic day to day familial life. Hence, he is a perfect example of an in-betweener. He longs for respect he had earned back in Nepal but he never gets it. Rather, he is called by the name his American manager keeps. The story also portrays how a diversity visa acts as a channel to achieving the American dream.

Similarly, ‘Lost Country’ demonstrates the inbetweenness of the Nepali family in America. The protagonist is in dilemma whether to take his son to ski, a popular sports activity in the US or to a Nepali school. He takes to the latter and at the end, regrets for not taking to skiing where his colleague, a ski instructor had invited. Caught between Nepali culture, anthems, hymns and Nepali friends who do anything for the US Green Card and on the other hand his present American society, his children who consider themselves American, the narrator is in a perfect space of in-betweenness. He is longing for his past home culture as well as in the present circumstances looking for a Green Card. Hence, in an instance he says he has no country.

‘Rescued’ unfolds the complex side of raising a toddler and feeding him by a busy working father and her working wife. The struggles of a working father feeding a toddler is vividly narrated. The complexity of a modern family in the US where both the husband and wife have to work, leading to troublesome babysitting and raising is relatable to the number of immigrants in the US under student visa schemes. The minor incidents the author has written about baby care sounds realistic and at the same time unpleasant due to emotions they raise.

Filled with humor and farce, ‘Shopping For Glasses’ is Madan Koju’s desperate shopping for glasses in American stores. It deals with the confused state of mind while trying to purchase eye glasses due to unavailability of the typical Nepali size. Eventually, Madan breaks one of the temples of the glass due to a dilemma, only to buy it to repair later, due to the police officers who make approaches to the argument between Madan and his friend Tankraj. The individual feedback that Madan seeks in each store from the salesperson is rejected by the cold consumerist culture of the US

‘Mrs. Sharma’s Halloween’ is about an elderly woman’s first-hand experience of Halloween in the United States, where she gets irritated, shocked and fearful in the beginning looking at the strange ways Halloween is celebrated for nearly a week, hanging black clothes, creating horror-filled images, hanging skeletons and large spider webs and merrymaking with fervor. She repeatedly asks her son to sell the house and change the neighborhood citing the crazy culture and tradition of the neighborhood. Mrs. Sharma, though hates living in the ‘Anakantar’ or remote region and foreign tradition, realizes that they’re linked to her son and daughter-in-law and more importantly to the grandchild who considers himself an American. She compares Halloween to Gaijatra and ultimately asks her son to not sell the house and shows tolerance towards foreign culture. 

‘Election 2017’ is about a young man’s desire to participate in the federal election of Nepal as a candidate of the leftist party. The young man is an ex-Maoist rebel who fought against the authoritative monarchy. He had fled to the United States seeking better opportunities after he realized fighting wars did not benefit him personally. Forthcoming election fever in Nepal grips him and despite his Chinese wife’s defiance, he thinks of joining as a candidate, if not support his ex-colleague. Finally, he gets to know the party gave a candidacy ticket to the similar face who had no vision and whom nobody expected progress. He sends an email to his campaign friends in the US where he writes, ‘Do you still regret leaving Nepal? Do you still have the hope for the country?’ Eventually, he thinks of trying his luck in the forthcoming NRN election.

‘The Lucky Plant’ is about the household rift between the married, yet childless couple. They quarrel over trivial things, specifically over the indoor plants, the Jewel Orchid and the Lucky Bamboo. The male protagonist seems to be a stereotypical male Nepali figure who always looks for reasons they can subjugate and oppress the female counterpart. It was in fact Gorakh’s inability to nurture the Jewel Orchid that his department head had donated which he had bid and won. He blames his wife for not nurturing the Orchid just like her Lucky Bamboo which he hated for its inability to bloom.

Likewise, ‘Thapaliya-Ji The Social Worker’ reveals the fact that the high ranking people of Nepal including the politicians and ministers flee to the United States as the low level workers, with the intention of only securing a visa or settling on the American land. The story also shares the dark sides of a politician regarding how they continue to give mere hopes to people, even in foreign lands. ‘American Son’ is about a road trip a Nepali-American family makes to another Nepali-American friend’s home. However, Vishworaj Pandey’s sixteen year old son doesn't like to go with his Nepali speaking parents as he considers they should be visiting their friends themselves and he should be hanging out with his friends of his generation and interest. The parents take the boy with them on the trip in order to instill some Nepali culture and communicate in Nepal for him to not forget the language completely. The boy creates havoc in the journey talking with parents calling with their first names and talking freely about dating girls including the daughter of his father’s friend. The story is about differences between cultures within a family and the complexities that such differences bring up.

The illegal entrance of a Nepali rising artist in the United States is reflected in ‘Overstayed’. The story chronicles from the present to the past and later in parallel. Jagan Bista, a theater artist, works in a Nepali restaurant located in Los Angeles. The owner, a Nepali businessman, gives Jagan fake hopes of a legal PR Visa which he never works for. He had arrived in the US after accepting the offer of a Nepali director who took 20,000$ to secure his entry in the US citing a musical performance. Jagan gets prepared to join a performance event where the famous faces of Nepali art ranging from Mundrey, with whom he had performed together, Pashupati Sharma and superstars would perform. Jagan had bought the ticket online and confirmed with the owner to leave the restaurant by 6 pm. But the owner came very late at around 8 to replace him which made him disappointed. Finally, he tells the owner that he no longer wants to stay and is planning to return back to Nepal. The final scene is sentimental for he creates a list of returning artists, where he writes his own name at last.

‘The Return’ is a family saga of a Nepali family who have settled in America. The protagonist Dharmaraj spent more than 15 years of his productive life in America and had bought a home and maintained sufficient bank balance for his family, yet deep inside he thought he belonged to Nepal, not America. A rift in the family got intense when he drank and beat his wife and his 18 year old son called the police and he was labeled a domestic abuser. The incident triggered his desire to go back to Nepal, all alone, for which he started hateful conversations with his wife and children. He knew that unless he could create hatred from them towards himself, he could not fulfill his desire to return. Diversity Visa lottery took him there and he worked as a slave for more than 15 years and in between for the sake of raising children and building a home for family, he had quit his desire to return.

‘How Not to Come to America’ is about a fake marriage between cousins for the sake of US citizenship. The story is a representative example of Nepali society as similar paper marriages have been leaked time and again. To put in a nutshell, the stories represent Nepali society, typical lifestyle and thoughts of common Nepali populace. They have also exposed bitter realities of the alluring American dream yet how they are chased by many Nepali people. The other thing is identity. Not all characters are happy with their decision to settle in the US. The book is a fictional, yet realistic documentation and experiences of the Nepali immigrants living in the US.

There are books that make you happy—books that are the equivalent of a warm, comforting hug, stories that make you believe everything will be okay despite the odds. ‘Matilda’ by Roald Dahl is that book for me. This is one of the books, and perhaps the first book, I gravitate towards when I need a little pick me up. 

When I was in school, I got my hands on a tattered copy of Matilda. I had come across it at the Awon library in Kupondole, Lalitpur. I loved it—read it on a balmy Saturday devouring the two Perk chocolate bars that I was allowed on the weekends. I renewed it during my next visit to the library because I couldn’t part with it. 

Soon enough, I bought my copy from Ekta Bookstore in Jawalakhel. At almost Rs 400, it was a pricey book during those days. I’m talking about the 90s here. My parents used to give me money to buy books, mostly the Famous Five or the Secret Seven series by Enid Blyton and the occasional Archie comics. Blyton’s books used to cost around Rs 140, with slimmer volumes priced as low as Rs 98. An Archie comic was Rs 68. So, I had to save up to buy Matilda. I bought one book at the combined cost of several. 

Over the years, I have read Matilda many times. I have bought more copies than I can recollect because I’m always giving them to people. Right now, I have two copies (with different covers) on my bookshelf. Sometimes, I just sit with the book, letting memories of a happier time wash over me. 

Matilda is about a girl named, well, Matilda. She’s a genius. By the age of three, she could do what most adults take a lifetime to learn—take care of herself. By four, her reading list had Hemingway, Dickens, and Orwell among many other prolific, highly celebrated authors. But Mr and Mrs Wormwood, Matilda’s parents, think she’s a nuisance. They think she should watch more TV and read fewer books. Her school principal, Miss Trunchbull, is another terror who despises children. But Matilda isn’t an ordinary girl. She has a few tricks up her sleeves that just might save her and her amazing teacher, Miss Honey.  

It might seem like a simple story when you first read it. But it’s also a brilliant reminder of what the human mind is capable of and how you can often turn your life around with the right attitude. Peppered with Dahl’s signature wit and Blake’s fun illustrations, Matilda keeps you entertained and allows you to forget your worries for a little while. 

Fiction

Matilda 

Roald Dahl

Illustrated by Quentin Blake

Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd 

Published: 1988

Pages: 232, Paperback

A couple of years ago, I watched the Netflix adaptation of ‘Behind Her Eyes’ by Sarah Pinborough. It was a slow-burn thriller about a single mother who unwittingly becomes a part of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss while secretly befriending his mysterious wife. The ending shocked me. I hadn’t seen it coming. I really enjoyed the series but I wished I had read the book before watching it.

So naturally I was excited to come across ‘Insomnia’ by Pinborough. Reading the blurb and the reviews I was sure it was a gripping and unsettling psychological thriller. But it took me a while to get through Insomnia because it was so dark and dense. I’d have to put down the book after a few chapters to process what I had just read.

The plot is actually creepy. Emma has a great life: a successful career as a lawyer, a husband, Robert, and two children, Chloe and Will. But she’s unable to sleep and that is really messing with her head. Emma’s insomnia causes blackouts, makes her doubt her actions and question everything and everybody around her. When the police become involved, Emma starts wondering what she is capable of.

Emma and her older sister Phoebe grew up in foster care after their mother was admitted to a psychiatric facility on her 40th birthday. As Emma’s 40th birthday approaches and she finds herself struggling to sleep, she fears the ‘bad blood’ that made her mother go mad is affecting her too. She can’t trust her husband or her sister, both of whom are hiding things from her. Worse, her son Will is terrified of her and her daughter Chloe is a rebellious teenager.

There is a lot going on and it is all very paranoia-inducing. It’s difficult to trust any of the characters in the book. Everyone seems to have a sinister motive behind their actions. Or is Emma the real villain, her own worst enemy who is as deluded and psychotic as everyone around her is claiming she is? The horror/thriller aspect of the story is subtle but disturbing. It comes unexpectedly and takes root in your heart and mind.

Reading Insomnia also makes you wonder what traits you have inherited from your family. Do we all become our parents and embrace their faults and weaknesses? I can’t say I loved the book but I enjoyed reading it. I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a scary book to get lost in during the weekend.

Fiction

Insomnia

Sarah Pinborough

Published: 2023

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 342, Paperback

Sally Diamond is strange. She doesn’t always function in the way she’s expected to, meaning she doesn’t fit into society’s standards of ‘normal’. When her dad dies, she puts him out with the trash, because he once mentioned that is what she should do: ‘When I die, put me out with the bins. I’ll be dead, so I won’t know any different.’ This leads to a furor that unravels a lot of secrets of Sally’s past, and all of it happens under the glare of the media and public.

Sally’s father has left her letters and they have details about her childhood that she had never known before. Apparently, the people she thought were her parents were her foster parents and her real mother Denise Norton was abducted as a child. Sally was born in captivity. As she comes to terms with it, Sally also has to learn to be more social and adapt to a world whose ways are alien to her. It’s not easy because she has led a protected and sheltered life where everything has been taken care of for her. She is 42 but she has never had a job and now, without her father to take care of her, she will have to find one. It doesn’t help that as people find out about her troubled past, they look at and treat her differently.

Then, she starts getting creepy mail: an old toy, and a birthday card, that makes her believe Conor Geary, her father and the man who kidnapped Denise, is alive and wants to connect with her. There is also Mark, a guy who seems to be obsessed with her and her past. He’s been asking questions about her and showing up almost everywhere she goes.

‘Strange Sally Diamond’ isn’t your regular thriller. Though it’s definitely a page-turner, the book is character-driven rather than plot-driven. The suspense element is just one aspect of the book and not the main focus. Instead, the book discusses trauma and grief, explores the effects of crime on the victim’s family, and shows how your childhood impacts your life.

Sally is a compelling but complex character. Though she’s the protagonist, she isn’t made out to be a hero. She doesn’t always have other people’s best interests at heart and that makes her relatable. Slightly reminiscent of Emma Donoghue’s ‘Room’, Strange Sally Diamond is a thriller where the crime is downplayed and the spotlight is on the aftermath. In turn delightful and disturbing, this is a book that will stay on your mind long after you finish it.

The book is Nugent’s fifth but my first time reading her. I’m going to hunt for her other books and read them all. That’s just how much I enjoyed Strange Sally Diamond. Nugent is quite famous in Ireland and, over the years, her books have been on different bestseller lists. She has also won four Irish Book Awards and the James Joyce Medal for Literature.

Fiction

Strange Sally Diamond

Liz Nugent

Published: 2023

Publisher: Penguin Random House UK

Pages: 363, Paperback