A collection of five stories about the Indo-Canadian experience.

I really, really wanted to like this book. It's the sort of thing I normally enjoy very much. Parameswaran examines a segment of society that I have some personal experience with but haven't read a great deal about. The stories mainly focus on women, with some attention paid to a male character in "Darkest Before Dawn." Several of the stories are obviously set in my home city, despite a transparent name change, and I usually find it fun to read about places I see every day. Some of the dialogue is nicely set out, and Parameswaran gives the reader a good feel for how each character speaks.

But as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't enjoy this. It consistently fell flat for me. The stories frequently demand that the reader make intuitive leaps that are not properly set up beforehand. The first two offerings are overlong, with many unnecessary details that add nothing to the final payout and contribute little to the character development. The three shorter stories are opaque; it seems clear that Parameswaran means to say important things about life here, but I can't tell what they are and I'm not really motivated to dig deep enough to find out.

So I really can't recommend this. The stories show promise, but they just aren't tight enough. All in all, this was one of the most disappointing books I read in 2008. ( )