A Place Within: Rediscovering India

In a stunning assemblage of words and images, acclaimed novelist M.G. Vassanji turns his eye to India, the homeland of his ancestors.

M.G. Vassanji’s grandparents left India to settle in Africa. An African by birth, Vassanji’s relationship with India in childhood was complex and contradictory, fed by legends and stories. Now, in this powerfully moving tale of personal discovery, he explores his connection to the land that for so long was a place only of the imagination for him. Part travelogue and description, part history and meditation, and above all a quest for a lost homeland, A Place Within begins with diary entries from Vassanji’s very first wide-eyed trip to India in 1993, then moves on to accounts from his subsequent and obsessive visits. An intimate chronicle filled with fantastic stories and unforgettable characters, A Place Within is rich with images of bustling city streets and contrasting Indian landscapes, from the southern tip of India to the Himalayan foothills, from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. Here, too, are the amazing histories of Delhi, Shimla, Gujarat and Kerala, and of Vassanji’s own family, members of the Khoja sect that draws on both Hinduism and Islam.

Intelligent, deeply personal, beautifully written in a voice close in style to Vassanji’s brilliantly evocative fiction, A Place Within opens our eyes and minds to India’s astonishing riches.

‘‘ ‘A charming love letter written with empathy…’’
Quill and Quire

‘‘Strikingly written…beautifully observed, filled with myths, stories, legends, history, journal entries and family narratives…What is unusual, what makes this book worth reading, is Vassanji’s character, his asides, his annoyance, his respect for people and place, his sense of humour…’’
Globe and Mail