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Uncertain Light
The new novel from Commonwealth Writers Prize winner Marion Molteno
High in the mountains of war-torn Tajikistan, rebels abduct inspirational UN peace negotiator, Rahul Khan. The lives of his closest friends begin to unravel.
Tessa, now married with two children, has never stopped loving Rahul. Lance, a dedicated aid worker, has used Rahul's friendship to avoid facing up to the gaps in his own life. Hugo, his UN supervisor, feels responsible for the abduction and is driven to uncover the truth. Tajik translator Nargis owes Rahul a personal debt but has secrets she cannot share. As hopes for Rahul's survival fade, each must find a way to begin again.
Set in Central Asia following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Uncertain Light vividly evokes a sense of place and an almost tangible atmosphere. With an authenticity and attention to detail that perfectly capture the nuanced compromises of relationships, Marion Molteno deftly weaves the strands of these interlocking worlds into a story of intimacy, hard choices, heartache and courage.
‘Her writing has a poet’s sensitivity and grace. Poignant and deeply empathetic.’ The Scotsman
High in the mountains of war-torn Tajikistan, rebels abduct inspirational UN peace negotiator, Rahul Khan. The lives of his closest friends begin to unravel.
Tessa, now married with two children, has never stopped loving Rahul. Lance, a dedicated aid worker, has used Rahul's friendship to avoid facing up to the gaps in his own life. Hugo, his UN supervisor, feels responsible for the abduction and is driven to uncover the truth. Tajik translator Nargis owes Rahul a personal debt but has secrets she cannot share. As hopes for Rahul's survival fade, each must find a way to begin again.
Set in Central Asia following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Uncertain Light vividly evokes a sense of place and an almost tangible atmosphere. With an authenticity and attention to detail that perfectly capture the nuanced compromises of relationships, Marion Molteno deftly weaves the strands of these interlocking worlds into a story of intimacy, hard choices, heartache and courage.
‘Her writing has a poet’s sensitivity and grace. Poignant and deeply empathetic.’ The Scotsman
- GenresFiction
548 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 2, 2015
8 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 10, 2016
Bit disappointed that this one didn't get me Tajikistan for my Around the World travels as the synopsis implies that it is set there, but mostly it is set in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and in England with just a little bit in utterly remote Tajikistan. It also takes in visits to Thailand, Laos, Ireland, Uzbekistan, Canada, Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan.
Still, it's an enjoyable read about the problems in Central Asia post the collapse of the Soviet Union, the work that humanitarian agencies do, and the depth of loss that can be felt when a lover or close friend dies. I just felt it was a bit top heavy on the romance of two of the main characters one of whom - Rahul - is killed off right at the beginning. The description of the strange relationship of Rahul and Tessa was well and cleverly done, though I just couldn't buy into the depiction of Tessa's husband which felt a little unreal. There was just too much of it at times and the novel felt a little imbalanced between the emotional stuff engulfing Tessa as against some just as interesting and intriguing characters and story strands that were rather left in the shade. The narrative always felt lifted when it was in the remoteness and beauty of Central Asia rather than within the romantic reminiscences of Tessa about Rahul.
Still, it's an enjoyable read about the problems in Central Asia post the collapse of the Soviet Union, the work that humanitarian agencies do, and the depth of loss that can be felt when a lover or close friend dies. I just felt it was a bit top heavy on the romance of two of the main characters one of whom - Rahul - is killed off right at the beginning. The description of the strange relationship of Rahul and Tessa was well and cleverly done, though I just couldn't buy into the depiction of Tessa's husband which felt a little unreal. There was just too much of it at times and the novel felt a little imbalanced between the emotional stuff engulfing Tessa as against some just as interesting and intriguing characters and story strands that were rather left in the shade. The narrative always felt lifted when it was in the remoteness and beauty of Central Asia rather than within the romantic reminiscences of Tessa about Rahul.
June 22, 2016
a web of relationships centered around one peace keeper who we learn to love through all the characters in the book.
was quite disappiointed at how the book seemed to show no confirmed insight into a pivotal incident revealed at the end of the first part, instead if this was about characters dealing with loss it seemed flimsy, left hanging in the air about a poet and possible spies. simply put the purpose of characters in 384 pages (paperback) seemed unnecessary.
while the writing was engaging but somewhere after 45% of the book it seemed to be irrelevant and skipping passages and sections seemed inevitable, for progress was as glacial as a soap opera.
disappointing yet: the point of characters, episodesand even the hows and whys seemed left too open.
was quite disappiointed at how the book seemed to show no confirmed insight into a pivotal incident revealed at the end of the first part, instead if this was about characters dealing with loss it seemed flimsy, left hanging in the air about a poet and possible spies. simply put the purpose of characters in 384 pages (paperback) seemed unnecessary.
while the writing was engaging but somewhere after 45% of the book it seemed to be irrelevant and skipping passages and sections seemed inevitable, for progress was as glacial as a soap opera.
disappointing yet: the point of characters, episodesand even the hows and whys seemed left too open.
November 6, 2020
3.5 stars
December 18, 2020
I have just finished reading Uncertain Light and it is such an inspiring novel. As I was reflecting on why I found it so satisfying, I realised that each of the characters were such special people who you could learn so much from. In most novels there are unpleasant characters who are much more to the fore, whereas in Uncertain Light the main characters are all, without exception, people I'd want to meet and have conversations with. This is the first book I have read by Marion Molteno and I'll definitely be reading more!
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December 25, 2021I think this is the best book I've ever read.
I just couldnt out it down. The characters, the descriptions, the places, the situations, the difficult circumstances, the awful conditions in countries ravaged by wars and poverty, the poetry, the way people adapt and had to be flexible ...Marion, you are a master at making us get completely involved in your stories, vibrating and flowing, and so easily going along with your descriptions. Thank you for sharing this lovely book with me.
I just couldnt out it down. The characters, the descriptions, the places, the situations, the difficult circumstances, the awful conditions in countries ravaged by wars and poverty, the poetry, the way people adapt and had to be flexible ...Marion, you are a master at making us get completely involved in your stories, vibrating and flowing, and so easily going along with your descriptions. Thank you for sharing this lovely book with me.
December 1, 2015
Through the intertwined lives of its characters, Uncertain Light provides a window into the world of international development work, as well as an evocative glimpse of the people, mountains and culture of an unfamiliar area of former-Soviet central Asia. The importance of poetry, both to the heritage of the region and the lives in story, is a particularly rewarding theme.
August 11, 2017
This perhaps should be a 5 star book or at least a 4 and a half. I am unsure whether it lost focus in the middle or whether that was me. Otherwise, if it was me it was 5 star. But, as I am a harsh marker, as my teachers used to say to me, I'll say 4 in case it was the novel. It was beautiful, poetic. The words read like poetry and the story was never dull. Lovely book.
August 26, 2017
A beautiful story, which will stay with me for a long time. Although it centres around a love story, it is so much more than that. It carries the reader to countries most of us have never been, puts us in situations we have never been, and makes us see what may be possible, should we but try.
July 10, 2023
Compelling read in an interesting setting. The background of the author as an employee of Save the Children really shows through this work -- she has insider knowledge to the workings of such international nonprofits as few others would.
The concept of staging the book around a person who is dead was quite effective. The way that each person's life interwove with Rahul's, branched out into their own light, and then came back together through mutual friendships and connections worked really well. She did a great job at taking diverse characters and making their stories come together.
Hugo, Glen, Greta, Nargis, Lance, etc. etc. were all such engaging characters. The village in Delhi, the struggle to speak Tajik, the uselessness of most of what they were doing, the budget cuts, the unknown, the trial and error and run. All of it was very cool to read about, although I have no idea exactly how realistic it is (the author has 100% more experience than me).
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It often happens in books that I like the side characters more than the main character. This was one of them, and is the reason this book is not 5 stars. Why authors so many times insist on making their main characters bOrInG I cannot understand. Rahul is Mr. Perfect, with apparently no flaws and only selflessness emanating out from him. Tessa is Ms. Angel who has the best personality, the highest morals, the most liberal views. Give. me. a. break.
Very infuriating was the way that Ben, Tessa's 'settled-for' husband, was not given a voice. Why was he made there just so sit and take in all of this shit? If Ben had been a woman and Tessa a man, my god, the outrage that would have produced. I'm sorry there's just no good way to make me root for a protagonist love story when one of them is literally married and has KIDS. For all Tessa's talk about being this loving child-protector and blah blah blah, she really does not seem to have any real affection to her kids at all. Otherwise, she could have anticipated how having another relationship would put so much strain on her husband and on the marriage. It seems to me that if her kids were from Rahul she would have loved them more.
Which goes to the ultimate point. Ben married her when she said she and Rahul were over. He hadn't heard from him in years. And suddenly Rahul shows up in Kathmandu and these children just can't keep their hands off each other. And with no apology Tessa waltzes into Ben's room and tells him he simply has to deal with it?? Bitch. Ben's dad DIES and the two are over there being frisky with each other?? Bitchhh.
Tessa annoyed me to no end, Rahul was only better because he was hardly there. The two presented like moral angels but no. Just no. I don't care what kind of grey lines there are in life, how things aren't that simple. Some things are very simple and those include: when you are married and have children, you have responsibilities that transgress your love life. Tessa is basically using Ben to give her a simpler life and that is disgusting.
The concept of staging the book around a person who is dead was quite effective. The way that each person's life interwove with Rahul's, branched out into their own light, and then came back together through mutual friendships and connections worked really well. She did a great job at taking diverse characters and making their stories come together.
Hugo, Glen, Greta, Nargis, Lance, etc. etc. were all such engaging characters. The village in Delhi, the struggle to speak Tajik, the uselessness of most of what they were doing, the budget cuts, the unknown, the trial and error and run. All of it was very cool to read about, although I have no idea exactly how realistic it is (the author has 100% more experience than me).
_____________________________________________________________
It often happens in books that I like the side characters more than the main character. This was one of them, and is the reason this book is not 5 stars. Why authors so many times insist on making their main characters bOrInG I cannot understand. Rahul is Mr. Perfect, with apparently no flaws and only selflessness emanating out from him. Tessa is Ms. Angel who has the best personality, the highest morals, the most liberal views. Give. me. a. break.
Very infuriating was the way that Ben, Tessa's 'settled-for' husband, was not given a voice. Why was he made there just so sit and take in all of this shit? If Ben had been a woman and Tessa a man, my god, the outrage that would have produced. I'm sorry there's just no good way to make me root for a protagonist love story when one of them is literally married and has KIDS. For all Tessa's talk about being this loving child-protector and blah blah blah, she really does not seem to have any real affection to her kids at all. Otherwise, she could have anticipated how having another relationship would put so much strain on her husband and on the marriage. It seems to me that if her kids were from Rahul she would have loved them more.
Which goes to the ultimate point. Ben married her when she said she and Rahul were over. He hadn't heard from him in years. And suddenly Rahul shows up in Kathmandu and these children just can't keep their hands off each other. And with no apology Tessa waltzes into Ben's room and tells him he simply has to deal with it?? Bitch. Ben's dad DIES and the two are over there being frisky with each other?? Bitchhh.
Tessa annoyed me to no end, Rahul was only better because he was hardly there. The two presented like moral angels but no. Just no. I don't care what kind of grey lines there are in life, how things aren't that simple. Some things are very simple and those include: when you are married and have children, you have responsibilities that transgress your love life. Tessa is basically using Ben to give her a simpler life and that is disgusting.
August 2, 2017
Shortlisted for the Rubery book Award for Fiction 2017
An epic novel centred round Rahul, a UN peace negotiator, who is reported missing at the start of the novel. The characters are strong and nuanced, the plot clever and the scope ambitious. The reader gradually meets all of Rahul’s close friends who eventually make contact with each other. It’s set in a lawless mountainous region of Tajikistan, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, where the UN has the impossible task of keeping the peace among tribes who have no desire to accommodate each other. The descriptions of this troubled part of the world, so unfamiliar to most readers, is both fascinating and terrifying, and the interaction between the characters movingly and skilfully portrayed.
ruberybookaward.com
An epic novel centred round Rahul, a UN peace negotiator, who is reported missing at the start of the novel. The characters are strong and nuanced, the plot clever and the scope ambitious. The reader gradually meets all of Rahul’s close friends who eventually make contact with each other. It’s set in a lawless mountainous region of Tajikistan, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, where the UN has the impossible task of keeping the peace among tribes who have no desire to accommodate each other. The descriptions of this troubled part of the world, so unfamiliar to most readers, is both fascinating and terrifying, and the interaction between the characters movingly and skilfully portrayed.
ruberybookaward.com
June 7, 2019
A very good read. I wasn’t quite satisfied with the ending.
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April 16, 2023An excellent read. Couldn't put it down.
February 3, 2025
Such a lovely, but heart-wrenching story from places and times lesser known
July 23, 2015
This is a beautifully written tale of love, courage and loss set in the aftermath of the hostage taking of a humanitarian worker. We are taken gently through the political background of post-Soviet Uzbekistan and the struggle of mountain communities. The sense of place is lovingly described without loosing the intimate portrayals of the families living there. Against this background the book focuses on the people who love the missing Rahul and how they cope with his disappearance. The pace picks up and the book truely is un-put a downable. Extracts of poetry together with the beautiful language make this book a joy to read. Don't miss out read it NOW !!
August 21, 2015
At first, there was something a little odd about the stalky-stalk way all the characters in this book were gnashing their teeth and wailing about one man. But it crept under my skin by positioning love in a way that was both untraditional and affecting.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews