Damage

by Amrita Kumar

provocative work of fiction that explores the fragile nature of Indian secularism and the constant threat to it from fundamentalists of all faiths A brilliant first novel about old age, dysfunctional relationships and the disorientation of beliefs, Damage is the story of Beatrice, a fanatical Indian Christian missionary and Gudda, her youngest daughter, a missionary-hater, separated from her husband and therefore doomed to be the one out of four sisters to return home to look after an ailing mother. With a shrilly evangelical mother, a broken marriage and sisters who suspect she is around only to usurp the family property, Gudda is already insecure when a new government comes to power in New Delhi at whose behest Christians are brutally attacked all over India. Gudda is caught between her dislike for her kin and a growing sense of kinship with the community and faith she has for so long ignored. Amrita Lila Kumar has been editor-in-chief, Roli Books, associate editor, Penguin Books India, managing editor, Encyclopedia Britannica, and freelance editor with Rupa & Co. and HarperCollins. She is currently senior editor with Osian's literary agency in New Delhi. This is her first novel.

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2008

About the author

Amrita Kumar is an anthologist, novelist, writing-mentor and creative writing teacher. She began her career in the godowns of Daryaganj to select books for a chain of bookshops, moving on as research writer for the Department of Culture, Government of India, then on to publishing as an editor for various publishing houses.