Last Burden

A fascinating portrayal of life in an Indian middle-class family by the best-selling author of English, August

Upamanyu Chatterjee’s second novel brilliantly recreates life in an average Indian family at the end of the twentieth century. Jamun, the central character, is a young man, unmarried, adrift. He stays away from his family, which comprises his parents, Urmila and Shyamanand, his elder brother, Burfi, his sister-in-law, Joyce, his two nephews and the children’s ayah.

Jamun returns to the family when his mother is hospitalized. Once there, he decides to stay on until one of his ailing parent dies. He barely admits to himself that there is another, probably stronger, reason for his extended stay in the family home—an old friend Kasturi, now married and pregnant, who has returned to the city (that she associates with Jamun) . . .

Flitting back and forth in time and space, and writing in a language of unsurpassed richness and power, Upamanyu Chatterjee presents a funny, bitterly accurate and vivid portrait of the awesome burden of family ties.

‘‘ ‘The Last Burden will place Chatterjee among the very best of Indian writers.’ —India Today ‘The Last Burden is one of the most honest novels of Chatterjee’s generation.’ —The Hindu ‘The Last Burden is an extremely well-crafted tale of moribund familial ties, told with an admirable ease, restraint and sensitivity.’ —The Tribune ‘Chatterjee is a mercilessly gifted observer.’ —Firdaus Kanga