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Haunting Bombay

by Shilpa Agarwal (Goodreads Author)

3.59 · rating details · 141 ratings · 47 reviews

After her mother’s death crossing the border from Pakistan to India during Partition, baby Pinky was taken in by her grandmother, Maji, the matriarch of the powerful Mittal family. Now thirteen years old, Pinky lives with her grandmother and her uncle’s family in a bungalow on the Malabar Heights in Bombay. While she has never really been accepted by her uncle’s family, sh

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Hardcover, 362 pages

Published April 1st 2009 by Soho Press

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Nov 17, 2011

Lily rated it

Tengo que reconocer que nada más ver el título, la portada y el argumento de La casa de los aromas sagrados yo ya estaba medio prendada de la novela, y es que India siempre ha sido un país que me ha fascinado por el misticismo de su cultura y de sus gentes. Y puedo decir tras haberla degustado que ha sido una delicia para los sentidos de la que estoy totalmente enamorada.

La historia principal gira en torno a una mansión de la época de la colonización inglesa en la que ahora vive una fa...moreTengo que reconocer que nada más ver el título, la portada y el argumento de La casa de los aromas sagrados yo ya estaba medio prendada de la novela, y es que India siempre ha sido un país que me ha fascinado por el misticismo de su cultura y de sus gentes. Y puedo decir tras haberla degustado que ha sido una delicia para los sentidos de la que estoy totalmente enamorada.

La historia principal gira en torno a una mansión de la época de la colonización inglesa en la que ahora vive una familia que ha mejorado notablemente su economía gracias a los desguaces y al comercio con metales. La protagonista es una niña, Pinky, sobrina de los dueños de la casa. Su abuela materna la rescató de la zona de Pakistán tras la partición de territorios y la trajo a vivir con la familia tras la muerte de su madre. Es, sin duda, una muchacha muy especial que despierta una enorme ternura. Pronto comienza a relacionarse con un espíritu que habita en un armario bajo llave y así comienza a desarrollarse una preciosa historia mágica en la que el amor, el misterio y la intriga se entrelazan maravillosamente. La mezcla entre lo material y lo espiritual se produce con una gran naturalidad, envolviéndonos en ese mundo sobrenatural al que los occidentales somos bastante ajenos pero que para un hindú es algo inherente a su cultura.

Paralelamente a la historia personal de Pinky y su familia, Shilpa Agarwal nos dibuja un detallado panorama de la situación india en los años sesenta que redondea la novela aportándole un toque histórico muy interesante. Uno de los temas principales que desarrolla la novela es la partición del territorio y la división en dos países (India y Pakistán) y su impacto en la vida de las personas que vivían en uno u otro lado del territorio. Me ha encantado conocer el contexto social y económico que se vivía por aquel entonces en la India.

La autora teje maravillosamente un delicado y complejo tapiz de olores, sensaciones y sabores que nos permiten degustar el corazón de la India más mística. Entre sus páginas me encontraba rodeada por un mundo de vívidos colores e intensos estímulos (la arrolladora fuerza de un monzón, la delicadeza del roce de la seda, el sabroso gusto de la comida especiada). Brillantes y ricas descripciones de una realidad exótica.

Y en cuanto a los detalles externos puedo decir que la traducción me ha gustado mucho (es algo que por mis estudios yo miro bastante), incluso la adaptación del título al español me ha parecido todo un acierto. Además, la exquisita presentación de la portada y la encuadernación aportan mucho más valor al conjunto de la obra. Se nota que todos los detalles que rodean La casa de los aromas sagrados están muy cuidados y se ha trabajado duro por ofrecer una estupenda edición.

En definitiva, una novela deliciosa que merece ser degustada como el mejor de los manjares.(less)

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Oct 09, 2009

Literary Feline rated it

Ghosts are like secrets. You may not always be able to see them, but they linger, always present, always influencing those around them. Shilpa Agarwal's novel, Haunting Bombay, tells the story of the Mittal family, three generations living under the same roof. Secrets cannot be hidden forever. And the dark family secret in the Mittal household would soon be let loose by the unbolting of a door by an innocent girl.

Pinky is thirteen years old. The year is 1960. She never knew her mother,...moreGhosts are like secrets. You may not always be able to see them, but they linger, always present, always influencing those around them. Shilpa Agarwal's novel, Haunting Bombay, tells the story of the Mittal family, three generations living under the same roof. Secrets cannot be hidden forever. And the dark family secret in the Mittal household would soon be let loose by the unbolting of a door by an innocent girl.

Pinky is thirteen years old. The year is 1960. She never knew her mother, a refugee who died during the Partition. Pinky was taken in by her loving grandmother, Maji. The two live with Maji’s only son, his wife and their three sons. Pinky has never understood why the door to the children’s bathing area is bolted every night. One night, in the heat of despair, Pinky dares to unlock the door and it unleashes the ghost of a baby once drowned, who is now set on vengeance.

A family, that by all appearances on the outside is healthy and happy, suddenly begins to disintegrate, proving just how fragile their bonds truly were. Pinky’s uncle for years has turned to alcohol to soothe his suffering. His wife longs for the upper hand, always wanting to be the best among her friends and family, and will do just about anything to get her way. Seventeen-year-old Nimish moons for the neighbor girl while Pinky pines for him. Then there are the twins, one with a sweet tooth and the other a bit of a trouble maker. The four servants in the house have their own stories: two sisters having fled famine and worse in their childhood; the driver from the slums; and the cook, a man of honor who is devoted to his wife. Maji seems to be the one person who is holding the family together, but as her control slips, and as the family’s secrets begin to surface, they risk losing everything. Pinky is at the core of it all, and she is determined to uncover the truth in order to save her family.

Shilpa Agarwal reaches into her own family history to help shape her fictional tale, offering the reader a glimpse into a family’s darkest and also strongest moments. It was easy to get lost in the story and feel like a part of the family. I was especially drawn to Pinky, so innocent and yet courageous. She may not have known her place in the household, but she certainly knows her own mind. I was also partial to Nimish, always lost in his books. He may not have been the strongest character, but he loved deeply.

The heat before the monsoons and then the coming of the harsh rain mirrored the events taking place in the novel: a seemingly peaceful existence suddenly uprooted by the storms. The author brings Bombay to life, offering a taste of Indian culture as she takes the reader into an upper class Indian family as well as deep into the city’s underbelly, where crime runs rampant. The reader gets a sense of the injustices that existed during that time period, including the corruption and prejudices.

The magical aspects of the story are interwoven into the family’s tragedy seamlessly. In the author’s guest post here at Musings of a Bookish Kitty, Shilpa Agarwal mentions that the spirits are “a metaphor for those who have been silenced.” In Haunting Bombay, the ghosts have no voice and are often invisible; however, they can only be ignored for so long. The ghosts, like the Mittal family’s secrets, will come out and be heard or they will destroy all those who suppress them.

Haunting Bombay lives up to its title. It is a haunting tale full of mystery, forbidden love, dark secrets, and mysticism. Shilpa Agarwal’s writing is beautiful, her story intense. I fell in love with this novel on the very first page and that feeling never wavered. If anything, it grew with each turn of the page. There was so much I liked about this novel; so much I haven’t said. Do you have a day or two? Haunting Bombay would make a great book club selection.
(less)

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Oct 08, 2009

Serena rated it

Shilpa Agarwal's Haunting Bombay immerses readers in a deeply saturated drama and literary ghost story reminiscent of the Bollywood films the Mittal family's driver Gulu adapts into his own adventures. Set in Bombay, India, the story spans two decades from the end of World War II into the 1960s.

Each member of the Mittal family is vivid from the main protagonist Pinky, a thirteen-year-old girl uncomfortable with her place in the family and grandmother Maji, who keeps the family unit ...moreShilpa Agarwal's Haunting Bombay immerses readers in a deeply saturated drama and literary ghost story reminiscent of the Bollywood films the Mittal family's driver Gulu adapts into his own adventures. Set in Bombay, India, the story spans two decades from the end of World War II into the 1960s.

Each member of the Mittal family is vivid from the main protagonist Pinky, a thirteen-year-old girl uncomfortable with her place in the family and grandmother Maji, who keeps the family unit running smoothly and keeps all of its secrets secure to self-centered Savita, Maji's daughter-in-law bent on driving Pinky out and her seventeen-year-old son Nimish, who always has his head in a book and is too timid to talk to the girl he has a crush on.

"Pinky dreamt she was drowning. She felt herself being pushed down into water, down, down, down until her lungs began to burst. The only way out was to push her head farther in, to stop thrashing, to trust that she would not die. But each time she grew afraid, each time she thrashed. Each time she startled awake just as she was about to pass out." (Page 111)

Pinky's mother dies during the partition of India, forcing her to become a refugee, but Maji takes her granddaughter into her bungalow, along with her son, his wife, and their three boys. The mystery of the bolted bathroom door at night is resolved when Pinky in a fit of frustration unbolts the door. Haunting Bombay is about the secrets buried within a family and the ghosts tied to those secrets until they burst through the bathroom door.

"Here it was, proof that she had once inhabited this place at the world's rim, before she had begun to bleed, before the women had gathered, their salty voices crooning the ancient tale of the menstruating girl who caused the waves to turn blood-red and sea snakes to infest the waters." (Page 4)

Agarwal's poetic language is like a siren song, pulling the reader into the Mittal family's struggles with one another. With the start of the monsoon season accompanied by the heavy rains, the ghost grows more powerful and the drama more turbulent. Readers looking for a ghost story will get more than they bargained for with Haunting Bombay. It's a ghost story, mystery, and historical novel carefully crafted to hypnotize the reader.(less)

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Apr 15, 2009

Dree rated it

Shelves: 2009-reads, south-asia

Excellent book with fabulous descriptions of life in 1960s Bombay (India). This book follows the lives of the Mittal family and their servants--largely their present, but with very important insights into their pasts. And woven in is a ghost (spirit) story. I found the descriptions of the lives of women in various stages of their lives/from various walks of life to be fascinating (girl, young unmarried woman, young married woman, married woman, widow, married servant, unmarried servant) to be fa...more

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Aug 07, 2010

Kalyn rated it

I wasn't as astounded by this book as some of the cover blurbs were, but I did enjoy it. The ghost story was not as central as I expected, but the stories of the other characters were more interesting anyway. The book's best moments are those where it explores themes common to all times and places - children rebelling against parents, young love, revenge, shame, acceptance, and seeking love. The descriptions are well done. I could nearly feel the oppressive heat and then the pouring rain of ...more

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Oct 23, 2011

Aspasia rated it

Shelves: mysteries

This story had a confusing prologue and was slow to get started, but after the first few chapters the story sucked me in. Pinky Mittal has been raised by her grandmother since she was an infant. She lives with her grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousins in an old English bungalow in Bombay during the 1960s. Superstition haunts (pardon the pun) this affluent family: the bathroom door is bolted every night and the children are forbidden to ask why. As Pinky nears the beginning of puberty she starts ...more

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May 18, 2011

Wendy K rated it

"Almost done with this but slightly disappointed - although the writing is nearly perfect, there are some misplaced flashbacks among the characters, longer than needed descriptions, and confusing details of the intense moments in the story. I wanted more haunting and less soap opera activity (too many characters and history). But Shilpa is a master as setting a backdrop and creating emotion. I hope to see more by her since this is her(?) debut book.

Update: Still a little confusing...more

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Jun 18, 2010

Diane rated it

"After her mother’s death crossing the border from Pakistan to India during Partition, baby Pinky was taken in by her grandmother, Maji, the matriarch of the powerful Mittal family. Now thirteen years old, Pinky lives with her grandmother and her uncle’s family in a bungalow on the Malabar Heights in Bombay. While she has never really been accepted by her uncle’s family, she has always had Maji’s love.

One day, as monsoons engulf the city, Pinky opens a mysteriously bolted door, ...more

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Nov 15, 2010

Jodi rated it

Shelves: india

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It's very well written. I don't normally go in for anything paranormal but this book is different. It shows the some of the superstitions in Indian culture about spirits and ghosts.
About a quarter of the way in the book had me hooked and I couldn’t put it down.
What I enjoy about Indian English literature is that most novels don’t wrap things up in a cute little, happy every after, bow in the end. The good ones always stay with me a while ...more

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Jul 23, 2009

Amandajane13 rated it

I loved this book- it kept me riveted to the end. It isn't the easiest of reads because Agarwal takes the time to fully envelop the reader into Bombay by describing in-depth the food, houses, and other details. However, the plot kept me going and I came to love the descriptions and felt as if I was there. Wonderful...and despite I say that it wasn't the easiest read, I still managed it in a day.So, give it a try!

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Dec 04, 2011

Luaunna rated it

This was an excellent read. I believe the secret to the success of this story was the pacing, it unfolds over its 350 some odd pages but doesn't stall anywhere. The paranormal aspect is not overdone, which I was worried about.
As a reader of south asian fiction, this story keys in on many of the nuances of the culture without, necessarily, being depressing. The power struggles, the corruption, lack of empathy, importance of status, the precarious position of children with no parent, and th...more

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Jun 18, 2009

Judy rated it

I guess I was expecting something else - a scary ghost story with lots of suspense. This was more about a dysfunctional family in India and their dysfunctional neighbors, with a ghost thrown in that wasn't particularly scary. Again, this shows how a publisher tries to market a book for a mass audience by giving you a different impression just so you'll crack open the book.

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Jul 04, 2009

AK rated it

I was intrigued by this book mostly because of all my travels in Mumbai. It was nice understanding all the Indian references and being familiar with the locations. That being said, I think that if it took place anywhere else it would have been kind of boring. The story was interesting but never truly compelling. The characters were interesting, but for the most part, 2 dimensional.

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Nov 28, 2011

Linda rated it

This is a terrific book about life, normal and otherwise, in 1960 India. Most people would never have any idea how life was lived there and it is interesting to find how superstition plays such a powerful role in day to day happenings.The characters are intriguing, very real.

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Nov 08, 2010

AKJ rated it

This book had me shaking in my boots! Really, there were times in the book I had to put it down not becasue it was such a thriller but the author had such detailed story telling that I imagine myself in the story. The ending had an interesting twist.

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May 04, 2009

Hope rated it

I enjoyed this fascinating and richly detailed ghost story set in India. I didn't give it five stars because for me, it went on just a bit too long, and the number of typo's was annoying. However, I would definitely call this a "good read."

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Dec 01, 2010

Jenifer rated it

The fact that it took me longer to read is not a critique of this book. It is a well- written and engrossing tale of a family in 1960s India who are haunted by a tiny - but revengeful - ghost. But maybe worse than the ghost is the lies, lost love and other secrets inside their bungalow. The author subtly and expertly weaves in information that will be needed further along in the story. The ending was very satisfying while not completely shocking.

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Dec 28, 2009

Mary Beth rated it

Just picked this up and I'm really enjoying it. A bit of an unusual take on the traditional ghost story. I always like books set in india so this is perfect for me. A little sensational, but heck it's a ghosty tale!

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Jun 14, 2009

Elisa rated it

Though her depiction of 1950s Bombay is a rich tapestry woven together wtih colorful characters, several of the revelations at the end of the novel seem off-hand and ultmately meaningless for the character's futures.

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Jan 05, 2010

Trudi rated it

Not a favorite of mine. Although I always enjoy reading about India, the emphasis in this book on ghosts put me off. Although it has interesting characters and setting, I didn't like the ghost aspect.

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Aug 16, 2009

Judy rated it

The best book I've read this summer. It is the captivating story of Pinky and her extended family and the tragedies that happen as a result of secrets kept. Beautifully written.

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May 18, 2010

Catherine Siemann rated it

Shilpa Agrawal's debut novel, which incorporates a ghost story into a Bombay family saga, is atmospheric and well-written, with well-drawn characters and a twist ending that is, in retrospect, well foreshadowed.

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Jan 26, 2010

A. Joyce Keady rated it

Shelves: general-fiction

Shudderingly scary and exciting. Could not budge until I finished it. If I keep reading books like this, I'll never get any work done. It's terrible (my addiction to fiction about India, not the book itself!).

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Jul 29, 2011

Catherine Woodman added it

Best ghost story that I have ever read--and I am not kidding. This is a wonderful first novel, with a unique voice, and a great cadence. Highly recommended

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Mar 09, 2010

Susan rated it

I'd actually give this one 3.75 stars. I really enjoyed seeing into a Bombay that I will never see myself, however, I think the author crammed a bit too much into her first novel. Definitely want to see more from her.

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Apr 27, 2009

Mary Ann rated it

I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys multicultural reads, despite the ghost element, it was a great story.

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Jun 16, 2009

Sylvia rated it

If you are into books based in India (I am hopelessly addicted), you will definitely find this one enjoyable!

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Oct 05, 2009

Staci marked it as to-read

Shelves: book-blogger-recommended-2009

http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.c...

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Sep 07, 2011

Daryl Gerber rated it

Haunting, beautifully written, a story that will resonate with you for years to come.

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Feb 02, 2011

Avery Aames rated it

Haunting, beautifully written, a story that will resonate with you for years to come.

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About Shilpa Agarwal

Shilpa Agarwal is a Los Angeles-based writer and academic. Born in Mumbai to a family uprooted by India's Independence movement and made refugees by its subsequent Partition, Shilpa's early writings explored how colonialism and the chaos of dislocation shaped human interaction.

As an undergraduate at Duke University, Shilpa specialized in Asian and African literatures and Women's Studie...more

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