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Still Lives
‘The glow of my cigarette picks out a dark shape lying on the ground. I bend down to take a closer look. It’s a dead sparrow. I wondered if I had become that bird, disoriented and lost.’
Young, handsome and contemptuous of his father’s traditional ways, PK Malik leaves Bombay to start a new life in America. Stopping in Manchester to visit an old friend, he thinks he sees a business opportunity, and decides to stay on. Now fifty-five, PK has fallen out of love with life. His business is struggling and his wife Geeta is lonely, pining for the India she’s left behind.
One day PK crosses the path of Esther, the wife of his business competitor, and they launch into an affair conducted in shabby hotel rooms, with the fear of discovery forever hanging in the air. Still Lives is a tightly woven, haunting work that pulls apart the threads of a family and plays with notions of identity.
Shortlisted for the SI Leeds Literary Prize
'An expertly crafted novel, filled with light-touch prose and inhabitable scenes, threaded with compelling and believable dialogue. It’s a book you can lose yourself in, and I did.' Adam Farrer, author of Cold Fish Soup
'Through small moments and big changes Still Lives captures beautifully and painfully how it is to live across two countries, nowhere feeling quite like home.' Laura Besley, author of 100nehundred and The Almost Mothers
'Ruia’s extraordinary skill lies in capturing the landscape of diasporic lives… Still Lives is a heart-rending evocation of a life in crisis. This is your must-read book for the summer.' Selma Carvalho, Joao-Roque Literary Journal
'This book grabs you from the get-go. Compelling characters, fantastic prose, sexy, funny and wise.' Heidi James, author of The Sound Mirror and So the Doves
'This book had my attention from the first page. Stunning. Heartbreaking. And so very real.' Khurrum Rahman, author of East of Hounslow and Homegrown Hero
'Lyrical, funny and at times haunting, Still Lives is an urgent novel that deserves to be read widely. It had me reading well into the night. Beautiful!' Awais Khan, author of No Honour and In the Company of Strangers
Young, handsome and contemptuous of his father’s traditional ways, PK Malik leaves Bombay to start a new life in America. Stopping in Manchester to visit an old friend, he thinks he sees a business opportunity, and decides to stay on. Now fifty-five, PK has fallen out of love with life. His business is struggling and his wife Geeta is lonely, pining for the India she’s left behind.
One day PK crosses the path of Esther, the wife of his business competitor, and they launch into an affair conducted in shabby hotel rooms, with the fear of discovery forever hanging in the air. Still Lives is a tightly woven, haunting work that pulls apart the threads of a family and plays with notions of identity.
Shortlisted for the SI Leeds Literary Prize
'An expertly crafted novel, filled with light-touch prose and inhabitable scenes, threaded with compelling and believable dialogue. It’s a book you can lose yourself in, and I did.' Adam Farrer, author of Cold Fish Soup
'Through small moments and big changes Still Lives captures beautifully and painfully how it is to live across two countries, nowhere feeling quite like home.' Laura Besley, author of 100nehundred and The Almost Mothers
'Ruia’s extraordinary skill lies in capturing the landscape of diasporic lives… Still Lives is a heart-rending evocation of a life in crisis. This is your must-read book for the summer.' Selma Carvalho, Joao-Roque Literary Journal
'This book grabs you from the get-go. Compelling characters, fantastic prose, sexy, funny and wise.' Heidi James, author of The Sound Mirror and So the Doves
'This book had my attention from the first page. Stunning. Heartbreaking. And so very real.' Khurrum Rahman, author of East of Hounslow and Homegrown Hero
'Lyrical, funny and at times haunting, Still Lives is an urgent novel that deserves to be read widely. It had me reading well into the night. Beautiful!' Awais Khan, author of No Honour and In the Company of Strangers
378 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 3, 2022
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71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 9, 2022
This is so understated in its simplicity, that it actually leaves a long lasting feeling and is so incredibly thought provoking. A well thought out blend of characters, all flawed and complicated in their own way- some more than others. The details matter and I got so absorbed in the story.
Clever storytelling with vivid characters.
Clever storytelling with vivid characters.
March 6, 2023
Amazing book that I couldn’t put down! It was a real page turner and kept you hooked the whole way along. The characters and the plot were beautiful, although a bit sad at times. Would recommend to anyone!
June 25, 2023
The double interpretation of the title is ingenious, as all 5 of the main characters, have life but do not live. They are stuck
The novel tells the inevitable tale of emotional destruction and the author pulls no punches in her warning of the complex dangers that face first generation immigrants in the UK - focused on finding security. We read the book through the first person (PK Malik) who has some self awareness (as I am sure the author intends for us to understand his actions) but not enough for him to have the empathy and kindness that could have averted the family's suffering, his lover's loneliness and pain and his friend's fear of identity loss.
At the centre of this novel is child so at risk from his world that it is heart-breaking. The book is not an easy read, I felt both pity and anger for all the adults at their obliviousness. It's a good book when a reader becomes invested in the characters (as I did) and when we are challenged to learn.
Ruia observes the lives in her novel with minute and precise detail, her dialogue is spot on and the characterisation is cliche-free. A refreshing read and quite a contrast to the last novel read "The Bandit Queens".
The novel tells the inevitable tale of emotional destruction and the author pulls no punches in her warning of the complex dangers that face first generation immigrants in the UK - focused on finding security. We read the book through the first person (PK Malik) who has some self awareness (as I am sure the author intends for us to understand his actions) but not enough for him to have the empathy and kindness that could have averted the family's suffering, his lover's loneliness and pain and his friend's fear of identity loss.
At the centre of this novel is child so at risk from his world that it is heart-breaking. The book is not an easy read, I felt both pity and anger for all the adults at their obliviousness. It's a good book when a reader becomes invested in the characters (as I did) and when we are challenged to learn.
Ruia observes the lives in her novel with minute and precise detail, her dialogue is spot on and the characterisation is cliche-free. A refreshing read and quite a contrast to the last novel read "The Bandit Queens".
September 18, 2023
Touching
March 2, 2023
So good! Couldn’t wait to get back to it and find out what happens.
August 30, 2024
The Online Cambridge Dictionary defines still life as “a type of painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects that do not move.” This definition is a pretty accurate description of the main characters in Reshma Ruia’s novel Still Lives.
Still Lives is the story of PK Malik who left Mumbai when it was still Bombay to start his course in an American college and build the kind of life his father never had. Fate, though, manages to stall him in Manchester where he starts a business in textiles. When the novel opens, Malik is fifty-five. His once-successful business is floundering, and his personal life feels equally limp and lifeless. His wife, Geeta, is wrapped up in their only child, Amar. She has never really adapted to the lifestyle in England and misses home, as is seen by her regular letters and telephone calls to her sister Lopa in Bombay. Their son, Amar, is fifteen years old and is clearly on the spectrum, a fact that both Geeta and PK refuse to admit despite Amar’s constant struggles in school and at home.
From Discontent to Disaster
It is at this juncture that PK comes across Esther, the wife of Cedric Solomon. Solomon is on his way up as PK is on his way down. An affair starts between PK and Esther, with both of them unmoored and dissatisfied with their life, trying to find something more and enthuse their life with some meaning and zest. Their affair, however, is conducted in shady hotel rooms and is defined by clandestine calls and quick meetings, guilt and secretiveness. When their affair comes into the open, it results in a crisis that threatens to topple PK’s world.
Ruia deftly manages many themes in the book. There is, first of all, the question of loneliness and a lack of belongingness. Both Esther and PK are first drawn to each other because they feel disconnected from their respective families. Esther feels that her rich husband has no time for her, and both her grown-up children are too busy in their own lives. PK, on the other hand, is dissatisfied with his family life, and he cannot seem to find any way to connect with either Geeta or Amar.
Once he starts the affair with Esther, we find him constantly comparing Geeta of the present with Geeta of the past. It’s no surprise that he thinks of the past version of Geeta – prettier, sexier, smarter and more loving – with greater tenderness. Geeta is caught in her own loneliness as well, with her incapability to adapt to life in England and with a husband who is mostly occupied with business; she fills her days with taking care of Amar, eating fried food and watching re-runs of Indian serials on television. Then there’s Amar, who, for no fault of his own, finds it difficult to adjust to the pace of life that everyone around him seems to flow with so seamlessly.
This loneliness is closely linked with these characters’ – particularly PK and Esther’s – dissatisfaction with their present and the feeling that they have been left behind somewhere in the race of life, that they deserved more but haven’t gotten their due.
This feeling of lack is also tied up with the immigrant experience, another theme that Ruia skilfully weaves in with the story in a way that never threatens to overpower the story but is always there in the background.
Besides these, Still Lives is also the portrayal of a marriage with all its niggles, disappointments, disillusionments and every day’s minor-looking wear and tear that can threaten to swallow the entire marriage if not timely addressed.
Complete review on https://www.purplepencilproject.com/s...
Still Lives is the story of PK Malik who left Mumbai when it was still Bombay to start his course in an American college and build the kind of life his father never had. Fate, though, manages to stall him in Manchester where he starts a business in textiles. When the novel opens, Malik is fifty-five. His once-successful business is floundering, and his personal life feels equally limp and lifeless. His wife, Geeta, is wrapped up in their only child, Amar. She has never really adapted to the lifestyle in England and misses home, as is seen by her regular letters and telephone calls to her sister Lopa in Bombay. Their son, Amar, is fifteen years old and is clearly on the spectrum, a fact that both Geeta and PK refuse to admit despite Amar’s constant struggles in school and at home.
From Discontent to Disaster
It is at this juncture that PK comes across Esther, the wife of Cedric Solomon. Solomon is on his way up as PK is on his way down. An affair starts between PK and Esther, with both of them unmoored and dissatisfied with their life, trying to find something more and enthuse their life with some meaning and zest. Their affair, however, is conducted in shady hotel rooms and is defined by clandestine calls and quick meetings, guilt and secretiveness. When their affair comes into the open, it results in a crisis that threatens to topple PK’s world.
Ruia deftly manages many themes in the book. There is, first of all, the question of loneliness and a lack of belongingness. Both Esther and PK are first drawn to each other because they feel disconnected from their respective families. Esther feels that her rich husband has no time for her, and both her grown-up children are too busy in their own lives. PK, on the other hand, is dissatisfied with his family life, and he cannot seem to find any way to connect with either Geeta or Amar.
Once he starts the affair with Esther, we find him constantly comparing Geeta of the present with Geeta of the past. It’s no surprise that he thinks of the past version of Geeta – prettier, sexier, smarter and more loving – with greater tenderness. Geeta is caught in her own loneliness as well, with her incapability to adapt to life in England and with a husband who is mostly occupied with business; she fills her days with taking care of Amar, eating fried food and watching re-runs of Indian serials on television. Then there’s Amar, who, for no fault of his own, finds it difficult to adjust to the pace of life that everyone around him seems to flow with so seamlessly.
This loneliness is closely linked with these characters’ – particularly PK and Esther’s – dissatisfaction with their present and the feeling that they have been left behind somewhere in the race of life, that they deserved more but haven’t gotten their due.
This feeling of lack is also tied up with the immigrant experience, another theme that Ruia skilfully weaves in with the story in a way that never threatens to overpower the story but is always there in the background.
Besides these, Still Lives is also the portrayal of a marriage with all its niggles, disappointments, disillusionments and every day’s minor-looking wear and tear that can threaten to swallow the entire marriage if not timely addressed.
Complete review on https://www.purplepencilproject.com/s...
October 12, 2023
My heart is still aching. Reshma Ruia's beautiful prose and nuanced characters take you on a poignant journey through its pages and skilfully portrays the fragility and complexity of relationships. What a gem of a book!
June 24, 2022
I found this to be an emotional, often gut wrenching, story that looks at the impact of decisions you make and the impact they have on you and those around you - with often devastating consequences. It's one of those books that you get so caught up in from the beginning and it's tough to let the characters go when the final page arrives. I'm still thinking about them now!!
PK is a man out to live life 'his' way and not his fathers way. And that journey takes him from India to Manchester where he finds himself living a life he doesn't know he wants anymore. Business brought him success, a wife and family, but he's reached that age where he doesn't know what is next and nothing excites him... until he meets the wife of a rival and that ignites his passion again.
Told from the perspective of PK you really get inside his mind, and what also works so well are the letters we get to read written by his wife - seeing life from her viewpoint really adds to the drama and reality of it all. She notices the changes in her husband but she finds it easier to discuss things in a letter with someone else, than to confront her husband and talk over their problems. You really get that head in the sand feeling about their relationship and despite the unhappiness they are unwilling to sit down and talk things over.
The story really takes you on a real emotional rollercoaster and that is down to how well the characters are written and developed along the way. Showing the frailty of human behaviours and how things can change so quickly allows you to connect on a personal level as they ponder the same questions we all do in life.
A story that packs a real punch - loved it!!
PK is a man out to live life 'his' way and not his fathers way. And that journey takes him from India to Manchester where he finds himself living a life he doesn't know he wants anymore. Business brought him success, a wife and family, but he's reached that age where he doesn't know what is next and nothing excites him... until he meets the wife of a rival and that ignites his passion again.
Told from the perspective of PK you really get inside his mind, and what also works so well are the letters we get to read written by his wife - seeing life from her viewpoint really adds to the drama and reality of it all. She notices the changes in her husband but she finds it easier to discuss things in a letter with someone else, than to confront her husband and talk over their problems. You really get that head in the sand feeling about their relationship and despite the unhappiness they are unwilling to sit down and talk things over.
The story really takes you on a real emotional rollercoaster and that is down to how well the characters are written and developed along the way. Showing the frailty of human behaviours and how things can change so quickly allows you to connect on a personal level as they ponder the same questions we all do in life.
A story that packs a real punch - loved it!!
May 25, 2025
I haven't read many novels by writers of Indian heritage set in the UK so I was interested to see what kind of story this would be. PK Malik and his wife Geeta along with their 14 year old son, Amar, live quiet, uneventful lives in south Manchester. The couple are at odds with what they want from life and the way they bring up their son. Geeta's love is expressed in the food she gives him and as a result, the pounds pile on the boy who hates exercise. Neither parent seems to understand his needs. PK ignores vital information about the boy's schooling and early health issues and once he's turned 15, thinks he should start to 'man up.' As an employer, he lets his textile business slip away from him and although he knows he's losing money, he has no self-control over what he spends. It's a claustrophobic world from which they both long to escape. Geeta back to Bombay and PK to... he doesn't know what. Only that he longs for a bigger life. Into the mix comes glamorous, dissatisfied Esther and PK's life changes forever.
The story explores in-depth the couple's different experiences, needs and losses. They have few friends, no relatives in the country and hardly any social life. Geeta doesn't seem to have ever had a job. I felt sorry for their situation but at the same time frustrated by their lack of common sense and unwillingness to reach out to a wider community for help. The ending shouldn't have been unexpected but it was. It's a new kind of book for me but I will search out for Reshma Ruia's other books now.
The story explores in-depth the couple's different experiences, needs and losses. They have few friends, no relatives in the country and hardly any social life. Geeta doesn't seem to have ever had a job. I felt sorry for their situation but at the same time frustrated by their lack of common sense and unwillingness to reach out to a wider community for help. The ending shouldn't have been unexpected but it was. It's a new kind of book for me but I will search out for Reshma Ruia's other books now.
October 14, 2022
I interviewed the writer about her fantastic novel. You can read it here: https://www.sarahtinsley.com/post/ide...
Sometimes stories just capture the wonderful essence of what it means to be human. Of where we find our place in the world, of how we relate to the journeys we've been on, and how all of that gets muddled and confused along the way. This is exactly that book.
In the book, we meet P K Malik, a man whose view of himself and where he fits in his world is slightly out of focus. In his ongoing frustrations borne of what he hoped he would become, we see his struggles with his family and professional life, and his desperate desire to nurture a mango tree in the chilly North of England.
It's a story of people, places and belonging, brought into sharp focus through Ruia's captivating style.
Sometimes stories just capture the wonderful essence of what it means to be human. Of where we find our place in the world, of how we relate to the journeys we've been on, and how all of that gets muddled and confused along the way. This is exactly that book.
In the book, we meet P K Malik, a man whose view of himself and where he fits in his world is slightly out of focus. In his ongoing frustrations borne of what he hoped he would become, we see his struggles with his family and professional life, and his desperate desire to nurture a mango tree in the chilly North of England.
It's a story of people, places and belonging, brought into sharp focus through Ruia's captivating style.
July 18, 2022
Despite not strictly being an immigrant’s tale, Ruia’s extraordinary skill lies in capturing the landscape of diasporic lives, the first-generation Indian immigrant, wedged uncomfortably between tradition and modernity, between desire and restraint, between the personal and the collective, these ‘dull and small’ lives illumined only by fantastical dreams. There are intimate, yet instantly recognisable details. Still Lives is a heart-rending evocation of a life in crisis. Not only is the minutia of this life beautifully observed but Ruia nuances its varied aspects with tremendous agility: the yearning for fulfilment, the realisation of a certain finality, a quiet fury leading us to its brutal ending. This is your must-read book for the summer.
August 3, 2023
At first glance this is a story about a man who thinks the grass is greener on the other side, and the devastating consequences of his affair, for himself and those around him. At its core, this is a masterclass in how simple writing can completely captivate an audience. The author managed to carefully weave together several different themes: first-generation immigrants; deferred dreams; legacies; the fickleness of relationships; flawed parenting; autism; the subtle ways that anti-black sentiment pervades Indian communities, and so much more. And the ending - gut wrenching - I did not see that one coming.
June 28, 2022
I enjoyed Reshma Ruia's short story collection Mrs Pinto Drives to happiness. I knew this one would be a good one too. Really enjoyed it.
Check out my complete review
http://onerightword.blogspot.com/2022...
Check out my complete review
http://onerightword.blogspot.com/2022...
February 11, 2025
‘Still Lives’ gripped me from the very start and I devoured it in a day. The characterisation was very strong and I felt really invested in the fates of these flawed people. The ending came as a shock, but, on reflection, it wasn’t surprising.
December 10, 2022
Loved this book. So many themes, so we’ll written. Met the author at a book club and she is also absolutely lovely.
October 1, 2023
Fantastic read - I was hooked from the start!
June 21, 2022
After reading this book, I realised that it is such a powerful novel about a seemingly happy family looking on as an outsider, you would never know what really is happening behind closed doors. PK Malik is a father and husband but at his age now he has given up a little, he has many things he is struggling with, until one day he meets Esther and she brings out a better side to him that he likes. He can't help the way he feels for her and they start an affair. But there is always that fear of being caught and he doesn't know how to cope with it. He knows he is doing wrong but can't help himself. I suppose it depends on the situation but it was hard to get to know each family member and see things that they didn't know about. I so wanted to tell his wife what he was like, I felt sorry that they were all in this situation but unfortunately these things happen and if he wants to go around and destroy his life then let him be.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews