Kora

by Anjali Venugopal

Kora is a multi-layered story that blends elements of mystery, spirituality, politics and romance to immerse the reader in middle class India from the 1950s through the 1990s. Anjali Venugopal’s richly detailed characters provide a unique look into life in a modernizing India, and her story has a tone and texture that inexorably sucks the reader into its time and place. The resulting novel is a thick and tasty slice-of-life whose protagonist is caught between the old and new worlds, between New York and India, and between guilt, hope, and despair.

ebook

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

Anjali Venugopal was born in Colaba, Mumbai and grew up in Mumbai and New Delhi. She has a BA in Commerce, Economics and Law from Pune University, Maharashtra, and an MBA in Human Resources and Organisational Behavior from the T.A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal. She has worked in a wide variety of businesses, including office automation, hotels, airlines, and an investment firm, managed a fast food franchise, and done fund-raising and event management.
After her first novel, The River Has No Camera, was published in India in 2000, she embarked on a full-time career as a writer. Her output since then has included speeches, annual reports, newspaper and magazine articles, and a cook book, The Promise of Plenty: the scenic route to competent cooking. She has spent the last several years working on Kora. She lives in Kuala Lumpur with her husband and son.

Reviews

[Tripat Narayanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anjali Venugopal's KORA reads like an early Benegal film, with an engaging, if tad convoluted, narrative technique.The back and forth timeline involves the reader in a generational story over time periods and countries, as characters evolve and family enigmas are explicated. Anjali has a good handle on her characters, a keen eye for authentication by detail, and effective hooks that propel her story. Her self professed love of the movies permeates the 'screenplay' quality of her writing. An engaging read.

[Manoshi Bhattacharya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this slowly. Savour it.This is a romance with a dash of history but not a book to rush through.
Indian soldiers once stood their ground against the Chinese on the heights at Rezang la. The event has repercussions that makes a next generation Keralite girl try and evade her destiny. Though bad weather prevents her from the circumambulation of the sacred lake and mountain of Kailash, it sets her on the path of the Kora that circles the pieces of the puzzle that is her life.

[Mohamed Sherief · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this smartly written book.
Funny & serious book.So many important characters like in the Hindi blockbuster movie 'Sholay'.Got to read & pick your hero/heroine.
Like the way 'the crime of the heart' was judged.
Brilliant flashback.Enjoyed reading the book.
One character(my hero) deserved better treatment from the author.
No hesitation,whatsoever,in recommending this book.

[Aruna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book thoroughly! It moves quickly between the past and present and one is faced with the implacable flow of life. The characters feel real and along the style of language, easy to identify with. Certainly recommend it.

[Deepika · Rating 4 out of 5]

A definite read, It is a poignant love story with glimpses into history that constantly tosses the reader between nostalgia and the now. The book takes the reader on a journey not just through the inaccessible mountain passes of Mt Kailash but also through the mind of the protagonist. A woman just like any of us, torn between choices, warring with guilt, waiting to be loved and to love.

[Sukhamaya Swain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fully enjoyed the knotty aspects of multiple stories of a family and acquaintances. It has all the ingredients of becoming a descent movie. Written with simple language and small chapters chipped in gives it a different form altogether.

[Ramana Rajgopaul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read the initial hard cover edition and am very impressed with the story line, characterisation and plot development. I have recommended this book to many of my friends.

[Vandana P · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic read!! excellent character development. could not put it down. enjoyed the history of the indo-china war.