OVERWINTER

by Ratika Kapur

The most important man in Ketaki’s life – her maternal aunt Neera’s husband – falls into a coma after a near-drowning incident. Brought face to face with the threat of losing someone deeply loved, someone who has been more than a surrogate parent to her since her mother’s passing, Ketaki continues to swing between the solely sexual and altogether platonic relationships she has had with men – all the while battling to bring down the wall of her aunt’s reserve. The silence between niece and aunt calcifies, only to be broken when Ketaki’s father visits from New York and shares with her a long-festering family secret.

Set in the quiet leafy enclaves of South Delhi, Overwinter lays bare the menace that throbs between the order and decorum of domesticity. Agleam with razor-like observations in distilled and disturbing prose, this debut novel, which was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, investigates the cold hard internalizations of family betrayal and hurt.

Paperback

First published January 15, 2012

About the author

Ratika Kapur is the author of two novels, The Private Life of Mrs Sharma (Bloomsbury) and Overwinter (Hachette India).

Reviews

[Smita Beohar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ketaki has had a volatile relationship with men. Ranging from having a solely lustful relationship with a guy called Krishna to a purely platonic one with Adil. Not that she has never been a stable relationship, she was once living-in with a guy called Lara when she was based abroad. But it was one man who dominated her life & relationships, her uncle Deepak and when he meets an accident and slips into coma, her life comes to a halt.


In between trying to get a reaction out of her indifferent Massi (Deepak uncle’s wife), to fielding matrimonial alliances from her Mamaji & handling her own emotional turmoil over the health of her uncle, her hands are full. To make matters worse her father comes down from New York and drops a bomb on her by revealing a well-kept family secret. A secret which not only makes her question her relationship with her uncle but gives her a reason for the indifferent attitude that her Massi has towards her husband.


Will Ketaki be able to break over the wall that her Massi has created around her?
Will she be able to get answers to the questions which keep moving around her mind?
Will manage to get into a stable relationship despite the instability that she has seen around her?


Read the book to know more.

My Verdict


Set in Delhi this book is a volatile read. Ranging from being dark, contemplative, introspective the book has many emotions. The author doesn’t give too much emphasis on the past but its shadow never leaves the book. Delhi has been portrayed quite well in the book but unlike her contemporaries the author’s portrayal of the city is quite subtle.


I loved the book for the way the emotions & mental trauma has been handled. There is no major confrontation, no hohallah but you can feel the turmoil each character is going through.


A must read book about how human emotions can be manipulated with and how just far man can go to fulfil his/ her whims and desires. The best part about it is that is not judgmental, the author leaves it on the reader to decide what is right or wrong, all she does is narrating a story and I must say well narrated. We need more such writings to take Indian Fiction forward.

[Manjul Bajaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exquisite prose. It contains some of the best descriptions of Delhi that I have ever read. Yet, the book disappoints – it’s a shallow tale of a half-baked Electra complex centred around a comatose uncle. The heroine who comes across as slightly supercilious and mildly dysfunctional fails to charm or elicit sympathy. Variants of the usual three male stereotypes borrowed from the chick-lit genre (one good 3 am friend to talk to, one otherwise unsuitable hunk to bed, one posh type to consider marriage with) are used to move the story along. In the end I couldn’t care less what became of any of the characters.

[Shayari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many a times we pass quick judgements, sort and slot people in our heads. This book does not judge, it simply narrates you a story of a 29 year old Ketaki, who now is coping up, when a most important man in her life, her maternal uncle slips into coma.

The web of relationships quietly unfolding, each explaining why people are the way they are, is what struck me the most in this book.

There is this perpetual sadness looming over the book, and the author Ratika Kapur succeeded in stirring up that emotion from the reader.

[Ranya Rathode · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a beautiful book written in the most un biased manner though it has every touch of Indian culture and spices it is distinct in its beautiful writing style and the characters are static and the slightest change in the characters attitude could change the whole plot the writer writes it objectively without passing any judgment on any of the characters thou at first I could not digest how it opens believe me it's the best book I have ever read

[Manu · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Mature' is probably the first word I'd associate with the book. True, it does fall under the general existential angst category, but I felt that it does go beyond the stereotype - in the characters, the way they are handled, and the way situations flow. The story spans only a few months, though the narrative does go back in time to provide contexts and many events unfolding in the story do have a connection with the past.
I felt that the only truly complex person in the book was Ketaki, the protagonist. I could pretty much relate to everyone else very easily, but her way of dealing with situations and people was the little unpredictability that made the book 'different'. 'Overwinter' means spending winter or waiting for it to pass, and that is pretty much what Ketaki seems to be doing. The novel starts with a rather dysfunctional scene involving her and her uncle, but that's not really a good indication of the story.
Ratika Kapur shows tremendous skill in narrating day to day events (a trip from Delhi to Gurgaon, for instance) such that they completely step out of the mundane. This is also true of her excellent descriptions of human emotions. There is a sense of reality in the book - for instance, the conversations around the Nano or T20 cricket or Nadal vs Tsonga - that happens between characters. It's as though I stepped into a living room and happened to hear these conversations.
The other word I'd associate with the book is 'intelligent'. The prose is assured, the narrative measured, and though you may not get a sense of closure that books often give you, this is a wonderful read.

[Joylita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given the weird dysfunctional note on which it starts, my already low expectations soon landed with a thud at square 0. I had no clue what to expect, hadn't read a synopsis and didn't know how it had landed in my bookshelf.

I liked how the author unwinds the multiple threads of guilt that Ketaki tangles herself in: Her relationship with her aunt, the shades-of-Electra relationship with her uncle, her absentee parents (dead mom, NRI dad). There's casual sex, foreign educated men and the ubiquitous clubs of Delhi high society thrown in for good measure. Yup, upper middle class Indian woman ahoy.

Ratika delves way deep into the broken relationships we women have with our emotional selves. The unkind, uncared for, mini pools of living hell we locks ourselves in, never once letting light in. It cut very close to home and I may have shed a few tears; who knows, this could also be the dearth of Greys Anatomy in my life these days.