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A review by aimeesue
Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup
4.0
Shubhangi Swarup's debut novel Latitudes of Longing is a gorgeously written set of four loosely interlinked novellas, all concerned with the ways in which we humans connect to our planet. Starting with Islands, and moving on to Faultline, Valley, and Snow Desert, each section focuses on a character or couple and explores their relationships with each other and with the terrain. We spend time with couple in the first section, Gijira Prasad and Chanda Devi in the Islands, and then the story moves to the Faultline via their maid, Mary, who travels to Burma to find her son who is a political prisoner. In Burma we then meet the son's best friend, Thapa. Thapa's story is told in. Valley, and then his smuggling career leads us to a distant village in Snow Desert, where we hear a tale of love in old age.
While I enjoyed the relaying of the tales - and LOVED the lush writing about the natural world, the themes and story line didn't carry all the way through, and the ending fell a little flat for me. Latitudes of Longing is, however, one of my favorite reads this year, and I still laugh at the thought of a ghost billy goat. Worth a read for the descriptions of the islands alone.
While I enjoyed the relaying of the tales - and LOVED the lush writing about the natural world, the themes and story line didn't carry all the way through, and the ending fell a little flat for me. Latitudes of Longing is, however, one of my favorite reads this year, and I still laugh at the thought of a ghost billy goat. Worth a read for the descriptions of the islands alone.