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Losing Touch
Arjun brought his family to North West London after Indian independence, but hopes of a better life rapidly dissipate. His wife Sunila spends all day longing for an Aga and a nice English tea service, his son hates anything Indian, and his daughter, well, that’s a whole other problem. Reeling from the death of his younger brother, Arjun vainly attempts to enforce the values he grew up with, while his family eagerly embrace the new. But when his right leg suddenly fails him, Arjun’s growing sense of imbalance is more than external.
Offering an intimate and touching portrait of an immigrant family precariously balanced on the cusp of East and West, Hunter’s strikingly sympathetic characters remind us of our own shortfalls, successes, hypocrisies - and humanity.
Offering an intimate and touching portrait of an immigrant family precariously balanced on the cusp of East and West, Hunter’s strikingly sympathetic characters remind us of our own shortfalls, successes, hypocrisies - and humanity.
- GenresFictionContemporary
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2014
2 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Hunter
11 books9 followersSandra Hunter’s stories have won the 2018 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, 2017 Leapfrog Press Fiction Award, 2016 Gold Line Press Chapbook Prize, and three Pushcart nominations. She is a 2018 Hawthornden Fellow and the 2017 Charlotte Sheedy Fellow at the MacDowell Colony. Books: story collection TRIP WIRES, chapbook SMALL CHANGE, LOSING TOUCH, a novel.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 8, 2014
Losing Touch is one of the best books I’ve ever read about the emotional reality of the Indian immigrant experience in London in the 1960s and 1970s. Sandra Hunter writes like a painter. Brilliant, colorful, and never a wasted word.
With rich, unforgettable characters, Losing Touch is a vivid, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking story of Arjun Kulkani and his family, who immigrated to North West London after Indian independence.
Strong-willed and intelligent but unable to connect emotionally, Arjun imagines a fantasy England, a green and pleasant land of castles and good manners. But the reality of North West London is gray, cold, ugly, racist and xenophobic.
And Arjun’s once-athletic body is failing him. As the story opens in the 1960s, Arjun’s beloved only brother has just died from spinal muscular atrophy – and Arjun begins to experience the first signs of the disease. He hides it, but gradually over the years, it progresses.
Arjun is literally losing touch. His inability to control his body also represents his inability to control his circumstances, his family, the world around him. Throughout the book he longs to touch – to affect the world – and is unable to do so. He cannot navigate because is bewildered by the realities of English culture and naive about the British caste system.
He also longs to touch his family in the sense of emotional connection but doesn’t know how to begin. It seems that he used to hit Sunila and the children when they were younger; now he wishes for intimacy and wonders why they do not trust him.
His son and daughter are growing up and ignoring his authority. Their reality is the new youth culture of swinging London, the impenetrable maze of the British educational system, the struggle to assimilate, to make their own futures in the real world.
Is any stranger in a strange land really “in touch”? Arjun’s wife Sunila believes in a fundamentalist Christianity with its own fantasies and prejudices. She has no empathy with her husband’s difficulties, while he has no empathy with hers. Neither is in touch with the culture in which they find themselves, although Sunila, like many immigrants, connects first with its consumerism.
Arjun’s extended family have also moved beyond his touch, as they find their own balance in this new world. Their interactions with one another and their opinions on the outside world make for some delightful scenes.
Arjun’s disease progresses and Sunila continues to do her Christian duty caring for him. The children leave, the extended family changes. There are marriages, divorces, emigrations, eventually a grandchild.
In the end, as Arjun sits, dying, unable to move or to talk, it is through the love between him and his tiny grandson that he is finally able to “touch.”
With rich, unforgettable characters, Losing Touch is a vivid, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking story of Arjun Kulkani and his family, who immigrated to North West London after Indian independence.
Strong-willed and intelligent but unable to connect emotionally, Arjun imagines a fantasy England, a green and pleasant land of castles and good manners. But the reality of North West London is gray, cold, ugly, racist and xenophobic.
And Arjun’s once-athletic body is failing him. As the story opens in the 1960s, Arjun’s beloved only brother has just died from spinal muscular atrophy – and Arjun begins to experience the first signs of the disease. He hides it, but gradually over the years, it progresses.
Arjun is literally losing touch. His inability to control his body also represents his inability to control his circumstances, his family, the world around him. Throughout the book he longs to touch – to affect the world – and is unable to do so. He cannot navigate because is bewildered by the realities of English culture and naive about the British caste system.
He also longs to touch his family in the sense of emotional connection but doesn’t know how to begin. It seems that he used to hit Sunila and the children when they were younger; now he wishes for intimacy and wonders why they do not trust him.
His son and daughter are growing up and ignoring his authority. Their reality is the new youth culture of swinging London, the impenetrable maze of the British educational system, the struggle to assimilate, to make their own futures in the real world.
Is any stranger in a strange land really “in touch”? Arjun’s wife Sunila believes in a fundamentalist Christianity with its own fantasies and prejudices. She has no empathy with her husband’s difficulties, while he has no empathy with hers. Neither is in touch with the culture in which they find themselves, although Sunila, like many immigrants, connects first with its consumerism.
Arjun’s extended family have also moved beyond his touch, as they find their own balance in this new world. Their interactions with one another and their opinions on the outside world make for some delightful scenes.
Arjun’s disease progresses and Sunila continues to do her Christian duty caring for him. The children leave, the extended family changes. There are marriages, divorces, emigrations, eventually a grandchild.
In the end, as Arjun sits, dying, unable to move or to talk, it is through the love between him and his tiny grandson that he is finally able to “touch.”
June 25, 2014
Disclosures first: I received an advance reader's copy of this book directly from the author, who sought me out as a reviewer.
And wow ... am I glad that I said yes.
"Losing Touch" is the story of the Kulkani family, who have emigrated from India to England and live in North London. The story opens shortly after the funeral of brother Jonti, who we learn has died of a degenerative disease.
Shortly after the funeral, we see Jonti's brother, Arjun, struggling not only with his attraction to one of his sisters-in-law (Pavi), but with realizing that he, too, is showing signs of the disease.
Author Sandra Hunter covers three generations of the Kulkani family, with each chapter centered on reactions to Arjun's advancing disease state and how the children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews respond to the changing family dynamic that results from Arjun's condition.
The book is well-written and engaging, and the characters and situations are interesting. I found myself relating to the Kulkani family as though they were people I knew in real life, as opposed to characters on a page. The tale is touching, with both laughter and tears interwoven throughout. Frankly, once I started reading, I didn't want to put the book down.
Highly recommended.
And wow ... am I glad that I said yes.
"Losing Touch" is the story of the Kulkani family, who have emigrated from India to England and live in North London. The story opens shortly after the funeral of brother Jonti, who we learn has died of a degenerative disease.
Shortly after the funeral, we see Jonti's brother, Arjun, struggling not only with his attraction to one of his sisters-in-law (Pavi), but with realizing that he, too, is showing signs of the disease.
Author Sandra Hunter covers three generations of the Kulkani family, with each chapter centered on reactions to Arjun's advancing disease state and how the children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews respond to the changing family dynamic that results from Arjun's condition.
The book is well-written and engaging, and the characters and situations are interesting. I found myself relating to the Kulkani family as though they were people I knew in real life, as opposed to characters on a page. The tale is touching, with both laughter and tears interwoven throughout. Frankly, once I started reading, I didn't want to put the book down.
Highly recommended.
June 22, 2014
Sandra Hunter’s Losing Touch is a quiet book that unfolds as life does—in lonely moments and poignant ones; matters of life and death are written in cups of tea, mechanical beds and long distance phone calls. Nevertheless, Hunter’s first novel began as something of a thriller for me, because something is wrong with protagonist Arjun Kulkani’s leg, and he has good reason to believe it could be a type of motor neuron disease, his family’s genetic curse (British doctors initially dismiss the immigrant’s self-diagnosis, because they believe a disease that’s common in India must be the result of some third-world problem that could not manifest in England).
As a hypochondriac whose fears have, on occasion, proven right, I was filled with dread on Arjun’s behalf. Each chapter is named for a symptom: “Reduced Deep Tendon Reflexes” or “Weakness of the Facial and Tongue Muscles.” Like any slow, degenerative illness, the cruelty of Arjun’s disease is that, in some ways, he is kept alive to witness his own death. This loss of physical self echoes the loss of cultural self he experienced when he immigrated to England (his wife and children strive for Britishness while he fantasizes about women in saris). And that loss of self echoes the trauma he experienced as an abused child, although we learn little about his early years.
"He never used to consult any part of himself when he stood or walked or picked up a squash racquet. 'I’m not myself today.' If part of him vanishes, then part of the intrinsic who-he-is also vanishes. Who is left? He listens to his body. He learns how to wait."
Although Hunter is most certainly concerned with these questions of selfhood, what makes Losing Touch unique is the latter part of Arjun’s narrative—the listening and waiting. Hunter alternates between Arjun’s point of view and his wife Sunila’s. Neither is a “likeable” hero. Arjun is prone to anger, and even when he tries to behave lovingly toward his baffling children, he comes across stern and critical, making for some of the novel’s most heartbreaking moments and reminding us that true love is the ability to triumph over our blundering inability to communicate. Sunila can be rigid herself, as well as dogmatic and materialistic.
We all hope that tragedy will bring out the best in us, and the contrast between Arjun’s fantasy and the strained reality of his family life will hit close to home for most readers, I imagine. “And for a moment it’s possible to see it: they are the family with someone who falls down,” Arjun thinks. “Then they pick him up and they all laugh about it, lovingly. And they carry on. Everything is normal again.”
It’s hard to be “normal again” when you never were—when you already felt out of place and broken. And yet this is not the story of Arjun’s desperate downward spiral or his triumph over adversity. It is not the story of a marriage lost and then found, or just lost. Life, Hunter seems to know, is largely a matter of sticking around to see what happens; of surrendering control because you have no other choice, but finding fleeting wisdom, empathy and pleasure in its wake.
Hunter’s background is in short fiction, and each chapter is simultaneously a vignette and a summary. As such, the language is spare and carefully crafted, the epiphanies small and glimmering. The downside of this style is a feeling of waiting for the story to start—but perhaps this is intentional. How much of life do we fritter away worrying about the future or reliving the past?
As I learned during my own rendezvous with illness, the “living in the present” mantra espoused by countless gurus, self-help books and internet memes is, in fact, the only way to avoid being crushed by anxiety and sorrow. I always thought that if I mastered it (which is not to say that I have), I would feel as free and joy-filled as a girl in yogurt ad, driving her convertible and laughing and eating yogurt. But the reward for such Zen-ish triumph is rarely soaring freedom, as Arjun in his humbled body knows. It’s simply living.
As a hypochondriac whose fears have, on occasion, proven right, I was filled with dread on Arjun’s behalf. Each chapter is named for a symptom: “Reduced Deep Tendon Reflexes” or “Weakness of the Facial and Tongue Muscles.” Like any slow, degenerative illness, the cruelty of Arjun’s disease is that, in some ways, he is kept alive to witness his own death. This loss of physical self echoes the loss of cultural self he experienced when he immigrated to England (his wife and children strive for Britishness while he fantasizes about women in saris). And that loss of self echoes the trauma he experienced as an abused child, although we learn little about his early years.
"He never used to consult any part of himself when he stood or walked or picked up a squash racquet. 'I’m not myself today.' If part of him vanishes, then part of the intrinsic who-he-is also vanishes. Who is left? He listens to his body. He learns how to wait."
Although Hunter is most certainly concerned with these questions of selfhood, what makes Losing Touch unique is the latter part of Arjun’s narrative—the listening and waiting. Hunter alternates between Arjun’s point of view and his wife Sunila’s. Neither is a “likeable” hero. Arjun is prone to anger, and even when he tries to behave lovingly toward his baffling children, he comes across stern and critical, making for some of the novel’s most heartbreaking moments and reminding us that true love is the ability to triumph over our blundering inability to communicate. Sunila can be rigid herself, as well as dogmatic and materialistic.
We all hope that tragedy will bring out the best in us, and the contrast between Arjun’s fantasy and the strained reality of his family life will hit close to home for most readers, I imagine. “And for a moment it’s possible to see it: they are the family with someone who falls down,” Arjun thinks. “Then they pick him up and they all laugh about it, lovingly. And they carry on. Everything is normal again.”
It’s hard to be “normal again” when you never were—when you already felt out of place and broken. And yet this is not the story of Arjun’s desperate downward spiral or his triumph over adversity. It is not the story of a marriage lost and then found, or just lost. Life, Hunter seems to know, is largely a matter of sticking around to see what happens; of surrendering control because you have no other choice, but finding fleeting wisdom, empathy and pleasure in its wake.
Hunter’s background is in short fiction, and each chapter is simultaneously a vignette and a summary. As such, the language is spare and carefully crafted, the epiphanies small and glimmering. The downside of this style is a feeling of waiting for the story to start—but perhaps this is intentional. How much of life do we fritter away worrying about the future or reliving the past?
As I learned during my own rendezvous with illness, the “living in the present” mantra espoused by countless gurus, self-help books and internet memes is, in fact, the only way to avoid being crushed by anxiety and sorrow. I always thought that if I mastered it (which is not to say that I have), I would feel as free and joy-filled as a girl in yogurt ad, driving her convertible and laughing and eating yogurt. But the reward for such Zen-ish triumph is rarely soaring freedom, as Arjun in his humbled body knows. It’s simply living.
December 15, 2014
I was provided with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Losing Touch by Sandra Hunter is a strongly emotional tale centered around the post-Independence cultural shuffling and the emigration frenzy of India and Indians, told through the lives of the Kulkani family. When the Kulkani family loses one of the brothers in a terminal degenerative spinular muscular dystrophy, Arjun Kulkani leaves India for England in the second half of the 20th century, his mind full of anticipatory fascination for what he believes to be an ideal life - a life amidst the green pastures and solemn castles of England. The seemingly dull and grey life in London gives him a jolt and he finds the monotony repulsive. To add to his internal crisis, he finds that he is losing touch - literally and figuratively. He begins to experience the initial signs of the deadly disease that shook his family by taking his brother away. Having conformed to what he believes is the stereotyped image of an Indian family man, trying to discipline his wife and children through more harsher means than just words, he finds them turning more and more indiffierent and aloof after having set foot in England. As he faces as existential crisis and tries to reach out to his wife and children for an emotional connect, he finds them cold. As the disease progresses, his wife tends to him dutifully, nevertheless stays emotionally distant from him, having lost faith in any form of mental togetherness, thanks to her husband's cruel ways back in their homeland. There are things that happen, as they happen to any family over generations - affairs, infatuations, heart breaks, marriages, break-ups, a grand child.
This isn't a conclusive book - not something where someone can expect the book to have a beginning and an end... It's more of a glance through a scope lens at the lives of a household, across years. And I absolutely loved the book for the very reason! While Hunter shows us that life revolves around a lot of greys, that while one takes things for granted, they also repent about it later, I applaud the fact that Hunter hasn't really justified any of Arjun's flaws. His misplaced attraction for a sister-in-law, the detachment from his family, his bewilderment at the conflict between the England he imagined and what he sees, are all handled very well, not condoning him for the wrong things. Sunila's character, although not the centre point, is very powerful and plays the perfect foil for Arjun's emotional turbulence.
Hunter's writing is enticing, almost like walking through a painting. The narrative is breathtaking and poetic. The final scene talking of Arjun relating with his grand-child is completely heart-wrenching. This is a brilliant piece of an emotional drama and I highly recommend it to everyone!
My rating for this book: 5 stars
Losing Touch by Sandra Hunter is a strongly emotional tale centered around the post-Independence cultural shuffling and the emigration frenzy of India and Indians, told through the lives of the Kulkani family. When the Kulkani family loses one of the brothers in a terminal degenerative spinular muscular dystrophy, Arjun Kulkani leaves India for England in the second half of the 20th century, his mind full of anticipatory fascination for what he believes to be an ideal life - a life amidst the green pastures and solemn castles of England. The seemingly dull and grey life in London gives him a jolt and he finds the monotony repulsive. To add to his internal crisis, he finds that he is losing touch - literally and figuratively. He begins to experience the initial signs of the deadly disease that shook his family by taking his brother away. Having conformed to what he believes is the stereotyped image of an Indian family man, trying to discipline his wife and children through more harsher means than just words, he finds them turning more and more indiffierent and aloof after having set foot in England. As he faces as existential crisis and tries to reach out to his wife and children for an emotional connect, he finds them cold. As the disease progresses, his wife tends to him dutifully, nevertheless stays emotionally distant from him, having lost faith in any form of mental togetherness, thanks to her husband's cruel ways back in their homeland. There are things that happen, as they happen to any family over generations - affairs, infatuations, heart breaks, marriages, break-ups, a grand child.
This isn't a conclusive book - not something where someone can expect the book to have a beginning and an end... It's more of a glance through a scope lens at the lives of a household, across years. And I absolutely loved the book for the very reason! While Hunter shows us that life revolves around a lot of greys, that while one takes things for granted, they also repent about it later, I applaud the fact that Hunter hasn't really justified any of Arjun's flaws. His misplaced attraction for a sister-in-law, the detachment from his family, his bewilderment at the conflict between the England he imagined and what he sees, are all handled very well, not condoning him for the wrong things. Sunila's character, although not the centre point, is very powerful and plays the perfect foil for Arjun's emotional turbulence.
Hunter's writing is enticing, almost like walking through a painting. The narrative is breathtaking and poetic. The final scene talking of Arjun relating with his grand-child is completely heart-wrenching. This is a brilliant piece of an emotional drama and I highly recommend it to everyone!
My rating for this book: 5 stars
November 16, 2014
Losing Touch is the best novel I've read in a long time. I recognized shards of one of Hunter's award-winning short stories (published in Glimmer Train a couple of years ago) within the novel--the heart-breaking chapter about old-age, resentments in a marriage, and the pain of having one's grown children living far away on another continent.
Somehow, Losing Touch captures the essence of the human experience as we follow the beloved main characters throughout their adult lives. Each character is fully developed, from the teens to their parents. And we watch them evolve over decades. This is a book that does so much, so well.
I devoured the text in a weekend and my only complaint is that the book wasn't 400 pages. You'll find this novel on the shelf between Victor Hugo and Zora Neale Hurston. I bought my copy at Barnes & Noble. Keep them coming...I can't wait to read Sandra Hunter's next book!
Somehow, Losing Touch captures the essence of the human experience as we follow the beloved main characters throughout their adult lives. Each character is fully developed, from the teens to their parents. And we watch them evolve over decades. This is a book that does so much, so well.
I devoured the text in a weekend and my only complaint is that the book wasn't 400 pages. You'll find this novel on the shelf between Victor Hugo and Zora Neale Hurston. I bought my copy at Barnes & Noble. Keep them coming...I can't wait to read Sandra Hunter's next book!
November 18, 2023
The back cover of Sandra Hunter’s Losing Touch says - “A richly observed debut about one family, two cultures and three generations”, “an intimate and touching portrait of an immigrant family precariously balanced on the cusp of East and West” . Having had a good fill of stories of Indian immigrant families, the culture shock or East vs West, with Jhumpa Lahiri pretty single handedly satisfying my appetite for the subject, I felt this was going to be run of the mill. It was, when viewed as an immigrant family's story. But, on two accounts, this book spruced my interest and I enjoyed it.
The book opens with a funeral service in a chapel in London in the year 1966. Arjun Kulkani has lost his younger brother, Jonti to Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a disease that will soon bring him too down to his knees. In fact, the chapters are named after the effects of this medical condition. The Kulkanis move to London in 1954 from India for a better future and Arjun's wife, Sunila, is willing to distance herself from anything Indian for the sake of acceptance by the English. She cocoons her children Murad and Tarani too from anything that's Indian, thereby driving a wedge slowly in her relationship with Arjun.
Indian parents share many traits in common and this makes the read very relatable. The author's attention to detailing relationship equations between family members deserves praise. Their failures, expectations, whims, misgivings, biases and regrets are conveyed with an elegant clarity. Though the prose is uncomplicated, the emotions and thoughts of the characters unravel silently, upon rereading at many places.
The choice of the title left me pleased, if not the book cover. Losing Touch signifies all that the book stands for - losing touch with your loved ones over time for reasons that you cannot jot down on paper, losing touch with your culture, home and homeland in search of a new identity, losing touch with your own body, a slow disintegration owing to ageing or ailments.
The book opens with a funeral service in a chapel in London in the year 1966. Arjun Kulkani has lost his younger brother, Jonti to Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a disease that will soon bring him too down to his knees. In fact, the chapters are named after the effects of this medical condition. The Kulkanis move to London in 1954 from India for a better future and Arjun's wife, Sunila, is willing to distance herself from anything Indian for the sake of acceptance by the English. She cocoons her children Murad and Tarani too from anything that's Indian, thereby driving a wedge slowly in her relationship with Arjun.
Indian parents share many traits in common and this makes the read very relatable. The author's attention to detailing relationship equations between family members deserves praise. Their failures, expectations, whims, misgivings, biases and regrets are conveyed with an elegant clarity. Though the prose is uncomplicated, the emotions and thoughts of the characters unravel silently, upon rereading at many places.
The choice of the title left me pleased, if not the book cover. Losing Touch signifies all that the book stands for - losing touch with your loved ones over time for reasons that you cannot jot down on paper, losing touch with your culture, home and homeland in search of a new identity, losing touch with your own body, a slow disintegration owing to ageing or ailments.
September 28, 2023
"When did the forward rush change into the hesitant step?"
It's a slow read. The starting is a bit exaggerated but it keeps getting better. I flew through the second half of the book.
I love how the story is realistically written. Family drama, love and all other emotions were perfectly articulated.
Also, one of the characters in the book had the same names as me. This is the first time that happened. 🦋
This story is about an immigrant family who try their level best to lead their life without any mistakes.
There WERE parts of the book that I did not like but I think the good ones dominated those.
It's a slow read. The starting is a bit exaggerated but it keeps getting better. I flew through the second half of the book.
I love how the story is realistically written. Family drama, love and all other emotions were perfectly articulated.
Also, one of the characters in the book had the same names as me. This is the first time that happened. 🦋
This story is about an immigrant family who try their level best to lead their life without any mistakes.
There WERE parts of the book that I did not like but I think the good ones dominated those.
May 13, 2024
An Average Read. Not boring. Not much captivating. The good point is only that it was a short read so you could read it without regretting it even if you did not like the story too much because it didn't take nuch of your time!!
Btw, I got emotional towards the end.
Btw, I got emotional towards the end.
October 21, 2023
As a immigrant kid this book made me sob. Ig universally all Indian parents have trouble showing love but seeing all of Arjun's regrets and how he did truly love his children dispite how he acted felt kind of comforting and the final scene with him and Tarani was so heartwarming. The writing was very immersive and it was kind of book where you know none of the characters are fully good people but you still feel for them
September 4, 2024
Why did you choose this book? I like reading about different cultures
When did you read this book? June 2014
Who should read this book? readers who are okay with difficult subjects
Source: TLC Book Tours
My Review
Another wow! I’m not even sure what to say about this one! I liked it very much….I just can’t really put my finger on WHY I liked it. At the surface, it appears to be a very depressing subject. Arjun, the main character, has inherited a degenerative neuromuscular disorder and the story follows his decline. In addition to his health, his family relationships also are in decline. Part one takes place in the 60s, when of course there was a lot of generational discord, so it is not surprising to find that with the teens in the family, everything is not all fun and games. In addition, Arjun’s family has immigrated to London from India, and there is the tension of wanting to hang on to Indian traditions vs adopting western attitudes. This causes a deep enough rift between Arjun and his wife Sunila to put their marriage in jeopardy. But despite these seemingly depressing circumstances, this is not a story of hopelessness.
One thing that really struck me is how the story was told. Arjun’s physical decline was told in the title of each chapter, which for the most part were spaced 13 months apart. I wondered if this was significant because 13 is considered an unlucky number. And though the text did sometimes detail Arjun’s physical decline, the story itself was a story of relationships and family, where the disease was just a background story. Most of the family issues could occur in any family.
This will be a fantastic choice for book clubs, with so much to discuss. And this is a book that begs to be discussed, covering issues of how illness affects family dynamics, communication within a family, racism, and generational conflict among others. Oh, and did I mention, I love the cover?!
My Rating:★★★★ 4 Stars
This book review is included in a tour by TLC Book Tours. I received a copy of the book in return for an honest review, which you can read above.
When did you read this book? June 2014
Who should read this book? readers who are okay with difficult subjects
Source: TLC Book Tours
My Review
Another wow! I’m not even sure what to say about this one! I liked it very much….I just can’t really put my finger on WHY I liked it. At the surface, it appears to be a very depressing subject. Arjun, the main character, has inherited a degenerative neuromuscular disorder and the story follows his decline. In addition to his health, his family relationships also are in decline. Part one takes place in the 60s, when of course there was a lot of generational discord, so it is not surprising to find that with the teens in the family, everything is not all fun and games. In addition, Arjun’s family has immigrated to London from India, and there is the tension of wanting to hang on to Indian traditions vs adopting western attitudes. This causes a deep enough rift between Arjun and his wife Sunila to put their marriage in jeopardy. But despite these seemingly depressing circumstances, this is not a story of hopelessness.
One thing that really struck me is how the story was told. Arjun’s physical decline was told in the title of each chapter, which for the most part were spaced 13 months apart. I wondered if this was significant because 13 is considered an unlucky number. And though the text did sometimes detail Arjun’s physical decline, the story itself was a story of relationships and family, where the disease was just a background story. Most of the family issues could occur in any family.
This will be a fantastic choice for book clubs, with so much to discuss. And this is a book that begs to be discussed, covering issues of how illness affects family dynamics, communication within a family, racism, and generational conflict among others. Oh, and did I mention, I love the cover?!
My Rating:★★★★ 4 Stars
This book review is included in a tour by TLC Book Tours. I received a copy of the book in return for an honest review, which you can read above.
May 29, 2014
A caring word from a stranger. A connected glance from a son. The grace of a simple gesture like the plating of a curry dish or the smoothing of a daughter’s hair. Sandra Hunter masterfully uses the smallest details to build her novel about an immigrant family’s day-to-day, year-to-year struggles to live a decent life. Moments of kindness abound, but Losing Touch is ultimately about loss. Disappointment, regret, and missed moments of connection are as gradually debilitating as the disease which afflicts Arjun, the head of the Kulkanis family. This is a beautifully and brutally quiet novel. There are no sharp peaks or plateaus. Flashes of clarity evaporate into the mundane. Time moves forward without high drama.
In the spirit of dreams deferred, Arjun thinks, “And yet there are photos when they are all smiling. Perhaps it was just one moment, like a squash ball snatched off the side-wall, the moment just before or after the camera flash.” Sandra Hunter, already an accomplished short story writer, lingers on life’s other moments, moments that don’t involve posing and pretend-smiles, moments that make Losing Touch a memorable debut novel.
In the spirit of dreams deferred, Arjun thinks, “And yet there are photos when they are all smiling. Perhaps it was just one moment, like a squash ball snatched off the side-wall, the moment just before or after the camera flash.” Sandra Hunter, already an accomplished short story writer, lingers on life’s other moments, moments that don’t involve posing and pretend-smiles, moments that make Losing Touch a memorable debut novel.
June 14, 2016
Much of what kept me turning the pages of Losing Touch was Sandra Hunter’s clever prose and deft touch in describing her various characters’ vulnerabilities, foibles, desires, and often awkward behaviors. Here is one such passage from character Sunila’s point-of-view (of her husband and daughter): “They are so alike…They even use their hands the same way when they speak. When they argue it’s like watching two mad, rival conductors swiping and slashing the air between them.”
The story focused mostly on Arjun, father and husband, who I found by turns frustrating because of his selfish behavior, and then touching because of his unfulfilled desires and growing illness. Sandra’s keen insight into the life of immigrant families, in this case Indian, recently settled in a foreign country, England, leaves one pondering their plight, and how it affects each generation so differently.
As an immigrant myself, I can relate to the complex emotions one experiences on being an outsider in a country that questions whether it wants you at all. I can hardly wait for Sandra Hunter’s next book.
The story focused mostly on Arjun, father and husband, who I found by turns frustrating because of his selfish behavior, and then touching because of his unfulfilled desires and growing illness. Sandra’s keen insight into the life of immigrant families, in this case Indian, recently settled in a foreign country, England, leaves one pondering their plight, and how it affects each generation so differently.
As an immigrant myself, I can relate to the complex emotions one experiences on being an outsider in a country that questions whether it wants you at all. I can hardly wait for Sandra Hunter’s next book.
January 25, 2016
Losing Touch is a quiet and unassuming book that gives readers brief glimpses into the lives of the Kulkanis through the decades. It is as much a story of the immigrant experience as it is a look into the life of a married couple and their evolving relationship. I did struggle with the brevity of some chapters and the book as a whole; just as I was becoming invested in one storyline or another, the book would jump forward dozens of years leaving previously discussed conflicts unresolved. I did find the ending satisfying but never felt like I just had to keep reading and turning the pages. Losing Touch was enjoyable but did not leave a lasting impression.
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