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Inside the Mirror
In 1950s Bombay, Jaya Malhotra studies medicine at the direction of her father, a champion of women’s education who assumes the right to choose his daughters’ vocations. A talented painter drawn to the city’s dynamic new modern art movement, Jaya is driven by her desire to express both the pain and extraordinary force of life of a nation rising from the devastation of British rule. Her twin sister, Kamlesh, a passionate student of Bharata Natyam dance, complies with her father’s decision that she become a schoolteacher while secretly pursuing forbidden dreams of dancing on stage and in the movies.
When Jaya moves out of her family home to live with a woman mentor, she suffers grievous consequences as a rare woman in the men’s domain of art. Not only does her departure from home threaten her family’s standing and crush her reputation, Jaya loses a vital connection to Kamlesh.
Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel, Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror is set in the aftermath of colonialism, as an impoverished India struggles to remake itself into a modern state. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power.
When Jaya moves out of her family home to live with a woman mentor, she suffers grievous consequences as a rare woman in the men’s domain of art. Not only does her departure from home threaten her family’s standing and crush her reputation, Jaya loses a vital connection to Kamlesh.
Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel, Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror is set in the aftermath of colonialism, as an impoverished India struggles to remake itself into a modern state. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power.
358 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 26, 2024
A novel that takes place in 1950s Bombay about twin sisters Jaya and Kamlesh, this book explores intriguing themes related to gendered oppression, British colonialism, and pursuing art as a career and lifestyle. Those who enjoys stories about sisters coming of age may especially like Inside the Mirror. I found the writing style a bit dry and the tone one-note which made it hard for me to feel invested in the story, though I can see why others appreciate this book.
March 14, 2024
Parul Kapur’s debut novel, Inside the Mirror, is a beautifully written and literary examination of the lives of two Punjabi sisters living in post-partition Mumbai (Bombay, at the time). The novel focuses on Jaya and Kamlesh, twins who are starting their collegiate studies at the opening of the novel. While the girls excel in their studies, with Jaya going to medical school and Kamlesh pursuing her teaching license, both are more seriously drawn to the arts, and struggle throughout the novel with the ways that their family and social circle look down on women who pursue performance and exhibition.
So many elements of this book felt like they were perfectly written for me—I love books about sisters, and it absolutely delivered on that front. Although Jaya finds herself in a pretty serious romantic relationship for a large portion of the novel, the relationship between her and Kamlesh is the central relationship of the novel, entailing all of the complexities that come with having a twin sister. There’s this really wonderfully executed motif of reflection and duality throughout the novel, in which Kamlesh in many ways serves as Jaya’s reflection, and it reads really well as a story of two individuals learning to become distinct from one another, despite the pain that it may cause to them both. I also love when art, especially visual art, plays a substantial role in literary fiction, and the descriptions of Jaya’s paintings were so wonderful and played into the dynamic between the sisters beautifully. My only complaint is that I wish that Kamlesh had felt like a more substantial character. While the novel does switch back and forth between the sisters, Jaya is definitely the focus, and the novel’s conclusion is much more centered on her than on Kamlesh. In many ways, Kamlesh never feels like much more than a shadow or reflection of her sister, and while I do think that this choice makes sense thematically, it leaves one of the primary characters a bit sidelined.
Kapur does a commendable job throughout her novel of weaving together her fictional storyline and character development with meticulously researched elements of Indian history immediately following partition and the history of the city of Mumbai specifically. Her depictions of the city and the surrounding area feel so rich and lived in, and I appreciate that she writes not from the perspective of an outsider but with the experience of someone who grew up in and around and spent portions of her adult life in Mumbai. At a couple of points in the novel, I did feel like some of the descriptions of specific moments in Indian history, particularly Punjabi history, did not come naturally, and in general the character of Bebeji (the girls’ grandmother) tended to feel like a source of historical exposition. But I do think that this is just something that tends to happen in historical fiction for the sake of contextualization, and not something that was mishandled by Kapur.
The novel’s focus on art and performance also ties in really nicely with the historical angle that Kapur has set up. The novel is set in the first few decades following Indian independence, and Jaya’s participation in the modern art movement and Kamlesh’s focus on Bharatanatyam dance bring up really nuanced points about what it means for art to be “Indian” and the role that art plays in the formation of a national identity, especially from a representational perspective.
However, some of the subplots in the novel seemed to fizzle out without really going anywhere, and I’m left feeling unsure of their larger purpose within the novel. Jaya and Kamlesh’s family is relatively wealthy, and their father has invested in and helps to run a glass factory located in the outskirts of Mumbai. A former Punjabi freedom fighter, the girls’ grandmother pushes to bring water, electricity, and healthcare to the factory workers living in squalid conditions nearby. This particular storyline takes up a very substantial portion of the first half of the novel, and brings up interesting and important perspectives on relative privilege, social justice, and representation as a form of appropriation (as Jaya uses some of the things she witnesses there to become a relatively successful artist). But past a certain point, this storyline feels more or less abandoned, and I’m left wondering exactly why, and what the point is in offering no resolution here.
My only other complaint with this novel is that I feel like its synopsis doesn’t do a particularly faithful job of indicating what the book is about. Many of the events that are mentioned in the synopsis don’t really occur until over 60% of the way through the book, so a substantial portion of the novel feels somewhat unclear in its direction. Things really pick up in the last third, and I especially found that the last 10% or so was beautifully done on an emotional and thematic level. It’s absolutely worth it to read this novel, but be warned that the beginning might feel a bit slow or directionless (it’s very slice-of-life for a while).
Thank you to NetGalley and University of Nebraska Press for the e-ARC of this novel!
So many elements of this book felt like they were perfectly written for me—I love books about sisters, and it absolutely delivered on that front. Although Jaya finds herself in a pretty serious romantic relationship for a large portion of the novel, the relationship between her and Kamlesh is the central relationship of the novel, entailing all of the complexities that come with having a twin sister. There’s this really wonderfully executed motif of reflection and duality throughout the novel, in which Kamlesh in many ways serves as Jaya’s reflection, and it reads really well as a story of two individuals learning to become distinct from one another, despite the pain that it may cause to them both. I also love when art, especially visual art, plays a substantial role in literary fiction, and the descriptions of Jaya’s paintings were so wonderful and played into the dynamic between the sisters beautifully. My only complaint is that I wish that Kamlesh had felt like a more substantial character. While the novel does switch back and forth between the sisters, Jaya is definitely the focus, and the novel’s conclusion is much more centered on her than on Kamlesh. In many ways, Kamlesh never feels like much more than a shadow or reflection of her sister, and while I do think that this choice makes sense thematically, it leaves one of the primary characters a bit sidelined.
Kapur does a commendable job throughout her novel of weaving together her fictional storyline and character development with meticulously researched elements of Indian history immediately following partition and the history of the city of Mumbai specifically. Her depictions of the city and the surrounding area feel so rich and lived in, and I appreciate that she writes not from the perspective of an outsider but with the experience of someone who grew up in and around and spent portions of her adult life in Mumbai. At a couple of points in the novel, I did feel like some of the descriptions of specific moments in Indian history, particularly Punjabi history, did not come naturally, and in general the character of Bebeji (the girls’ grandmother) tended to feel like a source of historical exposition. But I do think that this is just something that tends to happen in historical fiction for the sake of contextualization, and not something that was mishandled by Kapur.
The novel’s focus on art and performance also ties in really nicely with the historical angle that Kapur has set up. The novel is set in the first few decades following Indian independence, and Jaya’s participation in the modern art movement and Kamlesh’s focus on Bharatanatyam dance bring up really nuanced points about what it means for art to be “Indian” and the role that art plays in the formation of a national identity, especially from a representational perspective.
However, some of the subplots in the novel seemed to fizzle out without really going anywhere, and I’m left feeling unsure of their larger purpose within the novel. Jaya and Kamlesh’s family is relatively wealthy, and their father has invested in and helps to run a glass factory located in the outskirts of Mumbai. A former Punjabi freedom fighter, the girls’ grandmother pushes to bring water, electricity, and healthcare to the factory workers living in squalid conditions nearby. This particular storyline takes up a very substantial portion of the first half of the novel, and brings up interesting and important perspectives on relative privilege, social justice, and representation as a form of appropriation (as Jaya uses some of the things she witnesses there to become a relatively successful artist). But past a certain point, this storyline feels more or less abandoned, and I’m left wondering exactly why, and what the point is in offering no resolution here.
My only other complaint with this novel is that I feel like its synopsis doesn’t do a particularly faithful job of indicating what the book is about. Many of the events that are mentioned in the synopsis don’t really occur until over 60% of the way through the book, so a substantial portion of the novel feels somewhat unclear in its direction. Things really pick up in the last third, and I especially found that the last 10% or so was beautifully done on an emotional and thematic level. It’s absolutely worth it to read this novel, but be warned that the beginning might feel a bit slow or directionless (it’s very slice-of-life for a while).
Thank you to NetGalley and University of Nebraska Press for the e-ARC of this novel!
November 14, 2024
Het boek leest als een documentaire, maar dan met zinnen die ook poëzie zouden kunnen zijn.
Mijn liefde voor lezen en kunst samen gebracht.
“He said he looked for only one thing in art: a surge in emotion that transported him somewhere.”
Dat is precies wat dit boek deed: ik heb zelf het gevoel dat ik in post-koloniaal India was met herinneringen die niet de mijne zijn maar van Jaya. Ik vond het bijzonder en hartverscheurend om te lezen over de settlement bij de fabriek. De schrijver heeft het voor mij invoelbaar gemaakt door de individuen een karakter te geven zodat je geen buitenstaander meer bent. De relatie tussen zussen wordt mooi beschreven met aandacht hoe ingewikkeld het is om elkaar zo dierbaar te zijn, maar ook je eigen leven en privacy te willen.
Door dit boek te lezen voelde ik me enorm gezegend met de vrijheden die vrouwen tegenwoordig hebben, maar nog steeds de handen die aan je trekken… sommige thema’s als vrouw zijn van alle tijden.
“She was asking herself would women paint nudes in the same way? Women would not be as interested in a long gaze at their beautiful or withered bodies. They might want to say there is more to a woman than her body.”
Mijn liefde voor lezen en kunst samen gebracht.
“He said he looked for only one thing in art: a surge in emotion that transported him somewhere.”
Dat is precies wat dit boek deed: ik heb zelf het gevoel dat ik in post-koloniaal India was met herinneringen die niet de mijne zijn maar van Jaya. Ik vond het bijzonder en hartverscheurend om te lezen over de settlement bij de fabriek. De schrijver heeft het voor mij invoelbaar gemaakt door de individuen een karakter te geven zodat je geen buitenstaander meer bent. De relatie tussen zussen wordt mooi beschreven met aandacht hoe ingewikkeld het is om elkaar zo dierbaar te zijn, maar ook je eigen leven en privacy te willen.
Door dit boek te lezen voelde ik me enorm gezegend met de vrijheden die vrouwen tegenwoordig hebben, maar nog steeds de handen die aan je trekken… sommige thema’s als vrouw zijn van alle tijden.
“She was asking herself would women paint nudes in the same way? Women would not be as interested in a long gaze at their beautiful or withered bodies. They might want to say there is more to a woman than her body.”
February 29, 2024
This was a wonderful historical fiction novel about 2 sisters (twins) trying to pursue their passions for the arts in 1950's India. They are finding themselves in an oppressive society where women aren't allowed to make their own decisions. Their father wants them to pursue more "professional" careers but these two young women are interested in painting and dance. This novel discusses women's rights in India. I really enjoyed and some parts were horribly sad. A very young girl is raped and the family seems more concerned that her reputation will be forever ruined than they are about what actually happened to her.
February 7, 2024
Thank you Netgalley and University of Nebraska Press for my ARC ♥️
I have always been fascinated by Indian literature, and this book has only deepened my love for the genre. Set in 1950s Bombay, the story follows twin sisters Jaya and Kamlesh as they navigate their individual passions and dreams amidst societal expectations and family dynamics. What I love about this book is how it masterfully explores the complexities of family relationships, the power of creative expression, and the resilience of women in a rapidly changing India. The writing is vivid and immersive, transporting me to the bustling streets of Bombay and into the hearts of the characters. I found myself rooting for Jaya and Kamlesh, relating to their struggles and triumphs as they carve their own paths in a society that often seeks to define them. Indian literature never fails to impress me, and this book is no exception.♥️
I have always been fascinated by Indian literature, and this book has only deepened my love for the genre. Set in 1950s Bombay, the story follows twin sisters Jaya and Kamlesh as they navigate their individual passions and dreams amidst societal expectations and family dynamics. What I love about this book is how it masterfully explores the complexities of family relationships, the power of creative expression, and the resilience of women in a rapidly changing India. The writing is vivid and immersive, transporting me to the bustling streets of Bombay and into the hearts of the characters. I found myself rooting for Jaya and Kamlesh, relating to their struggles and triumphs as they carve their own paths in a society that often seeks to define them. Indian literature never fails to impress me, and this book is no exception.♥️
March 1, 2024
Jaya and Kamlesh are twin sisters from an upper-middle class Punjabi family. They are living with their parents, widowed grandmother and younger brother in a plush apartment in South Mumbai. It is the 1950s and India has recently secured independence from the British Rule. Punjabi families are just about recovering from the brutalities of the horrific Partition of India which led to mass migration and carnage. The girl's father is progressive for the times and insists on Jaya pursuing a career in medicine and Kamlesh pursuing a Bachelor Of Arts degree followed by a teacher training course. Both girls are enrolled in highly prestigious universities. However, the girls are bent upon pursuing their love for the fine arts of painting and dance. This is the backdrop for this beautiful coming of age family drama.
The story is a vivid portrayal of the two twin sisters growing up in a progressive yet conservative Indian environment. The author has expertly captured all the nuances of a typical Indian family - the familial dynamics between the elders and the kids, the Indian fascination with "professional" career courses, the obsession with marriage as an ultimate goal for young women, the societal scorn for the arts especially dancing. The author has beautifully portrayed the innate, unbreakable bonds between the two siblings in a poignant, heartwarming manner. The writing style is so good with so much attention to detail that you literally get implanted into the daily lives of the family. You also get glimpses into the historical and political context of the time, post partition India, the movement for creating a separate state of Maharashtra, the growth of slums in Mumbai and the industry-political nexus for the same. The author has definitely done a lot of research. She has brought alive Bombay as it was then called. Anybody who is interested in understanding the societal and cultural complexities of India and Indian families must read this book. The story may be based in the 1950s but a lot of it holds true even today for women growing up and trying to find their space in India. Portions were reminiscent of Tomb of Sand which I read and loved recently.
Thank you Parul Kapur for telling this story, I'm going to be recommending it to everybody who loves reading. The AWP Prize is well deserved. Thank you Netgalley and University of Nebraska Press for the ARC.
The story is a vivid portrayal of the two twin sisters growing up in a progressive yet conservative Indian environment. The author has expertly captured all the nuances of a typical Indian family - the familial dynamics between the elders and the kids, the Indian fascination with "professional" career courses, the obsession with marriage as an ultimate goal for young women, the societal scorn for the arts especially dancing. The author has beautifully portrayed the innate, unbreakable bonds between the two siblings in a poignant, heartwarming manner. The writing style is so good with so much attention to detail that you literally get implanted into the daily lives of the family. You also get glimpses into the historical and political context of the time, post partition India, the movement for creating a separate state of Maharashtra, the growth of slums in Mumbai and the industry-political nexus for the same. The author has definitely done a lot of research. She has brought alive Bombay as it was then called. Anybody who is interested in understanding the societal and cultural complexities of India and Indian families must read this book. The story may be based in the 1950s but a lot of it holds true even today for women growing up and trying to find their space in India. Portions were reminiscent of Tomb of Sand which I read and loved recently.
Thank you Parul Kapur for telling this story, I'm going to be recommending it to everybody who loves reading. The AWP Prize is well deserved. Thank you Netgalley and University of Nebraska Press for the ARC.
April 6, 2024
Inside the Mirror is a winner of the AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Prize for the Novel. That’s a big deal in literary book circles. I could not wait to pick it up. Once I did, I realized it is a story to savor and take my time.
About the book: “Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel, Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror is set in the aftermath of colonialism, as an impoverished India struggles to remake itself into a modern state. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power.”
The book is set in 1950s Bombay, India. Jaya is studying medicine, the profession chosen by her father, who is also a firm believer in women’s education. The thing is, Jaya is an artist inspired by the modern art in her community, especially as it propers after British rule has ended.
Jaya’s twin sister, Kamlesh, studies Bharata Natyam dance, while also pursuing a degree in education, as chosen by their father.
Things change drastically when Jaya moves out of the family home and into the world of art with a female mentor.
The writing in Inside the Mirror lured me in instantly. The story was completely original and fascinating. I read Lisa Ko’s Memory Piece, also about modern art, but in a more recent time period and with a different cultural backdrop. Each book was equally fascinating, and here, I loved all I learned about the special style of dance shared. I loved all I learned about everything; all of it.
Inside the Mirror takes off in the last quarter and ends in a profound way that leaves a mark. Parul Kapur is a skilled and talented storyteller, and I hope she has many more stories to share.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
About the book: “Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel, Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror is set in the aftermath of colonialism, as an impoverished India struggles to remake itself into a modern state. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power.”
The book is set in 1950s Bombay, India. Jaya is studying medicine, the profession chosen by her father, who is also a firm believer in women’s education. The thing is, Jaya is an artist inspired by the modern art in her community, especially as it propers after British rule has ended.
Jaya’s twin sister, Kamlesh, studies Bharata Natyam dance, while also pursuing a degree in education, as chosen by their father.
Things change drastically when Jaya moves out of the family home and into the world of art with a female mentor.
The writing in Inside the Mirror lured me in instantly. The story was completely original and fascinating. I read Lisa Ko’s Memory Piece, also about modern art, but in a more recent time period and with a different cultural backdrop. Each book was equally fascinating, and here, I loved all I learned about the special style of dance shared. I loved all I learned about everything; all of it.
Inside the Mirror takes off in the last quarter and ends in a profound way that leaves a mark. Parul Kapur is a skilled and talented storyteller, and I hope she has many more stories to share.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
September 9, 2024
I have wanted to read Parul Kapur's Inside the Mirror since I first got to know about it in an email alert, and I very am glad that I did.
Inside the Mirror is about a lot of things: it is a book that captures that heady decade that made Bombay the centre of art and culture after the Indian independence, it draws from painful narratives of the partition of Punjab, it gives a glimpse of the nation-building. Behind these large narratives is the micro-narrative of two sisters, twins from a privileged Bombay-based Punjabi family. Both sisters are immersed in the arts when the world around them wants them to fall into traditional gender roles.
For me, Kapur's plunge into the art world of the 50s India was the most exciting part. She brings alive the conversations about modernity and national identity as artists shaped their art practices inspired by native and international influences. Kapur humanises these artistic debates and choices. The protagonist, Jaya Malhotra, pursues art single-mindedly. There isn't any reason charted for her artistic obsession, and the novel delineates the protagonist's outer world more clearly than her inner world. Despite that, the novel does a good job of bringing forth the central conflict of the novel - a woman's self-expression challenging the traditional values espoused by society.
Read this book to transport yourself to the formative years of post-independent India's cultural scene and to share the journey of radical individuals who shaped Indian modernities.
Inside the Mirror is about a lot of things: it is a book that captures that heady decade that made Bombay the centre of art and culture after the Indian independence, it draws from painful narratives of the partition of Punjab, it gives a glimpse of the nation-building. Behind these large narratives is the micro-narrative of two sisters, twins from a privileged Bombay-based Punjabi family. Both sisters are immersed in the arts when the world around them wants them to fall into traditional gender roles.
For me, Kapur's plunge into the art world of the 50s India was the most exciting part. She brings alive the conversations about modernity and national identity as artists shaped their art practices inspired by native and international influences. Kapur humanises these artistic debates and choices. The protagonist, Jaya Malhotra, pursues art single-mindedly. There isn't any reason charted for her artistic obsession, and the novel delineates the protagonist's outer world more clearly than her inner world. Despite that, the novel does a good job of bringing forth the central conflict of the novel - a woman's self-expression challenging the traditional values espoused by society.
Read this book to transport yourself to the formative years of post-independent India's cultural scene and to share the journey of radical individuals who shaped Indian modernities.
November 1, 2024
This is a beautifully written book that explores the lives of two college-age twin sisters in India, who wish to pursue their creative callings (art and dance), despite family and societal expectations.Their father has mapped out their careers--Jaya in medicine, Kamlesh in education--which are considered respectable, despite their yearning to discover their talents in the arts. I am still thinking about the sisters, Jaya and Kamlesh, experiencing their joy in the creative process and their anguish when those they love do not understand or wish to stifle the overwhelming need for creative freedom.Also Bebeji, their grandmother and a famous freedom fighter, who desires a fairer India. The characters are just so powerful, and I felt such a strong connection to them.
I was very moved by the events in the shanty colony, and also seeing through Jaya's eyes the spark of ideas and development of her paintings (and the sequence of Kamlesh's dance). I could feel Jaya's passionate intensity as she herself was so moved by her experiences and what she saw---and how those emotions and images coalesced into her paintings. I've never encountered such moving descriptions of either the process of art or dance in any novel before, and the accompanying swirl of emotions during that process of creating something. Ms. Kapur excels at putting herself into someone else's shoes, "translating" one art form to another, which I think it is very difficult to do.
"Inside the Mirror" still resonates with me since I finished the book in August. It is a novel to be savored!
I was very moved by the events in the shanty colony, and also seeing through Jaya's eyes the spark of ideas and development of her paintings (and the sequence of Kamlesh's dance). I could feel Jaya's passionate intensity as she herself was so moved by her experiences and what she saw---and how those emotions and images coalesced into her paintings. I've never encountered such moving descriptions of either the process of art or dance in any novel before, and the accompanying swirl of emotions during that process of creating something. Ms. Kapur excels at putting herself into someone else's shoes, "translating" one art form to another, which I think it is very difficult to do.
"Inside the Mirror" still resonates with me since I finished the book in August. It is a novel to be savored!
March 1, 2024
Inside the Mirror by Parul Kapur is a perfect book to start the month of March. This story again brings the question to the foray of how important is honor in the society vs. individual autonomy. This book is the AWP Prize for the Novel winner.
Set in the backdrop of 1950s India where the country was just finding her bearings after years of colonization, Jaya and Kamlesh, who are twins, are pursuing their dreams. Jaya is pursuing medicine, and Kamlesh wants to be a school teacher. Both have different dreams, though. Things go haywire for this family, and it asks an important question of why the rules are different for women and men?
Things have changed over the years, but the truth of the matter is that some things are still the same for women. Society, honor of the family, and marriage are the burden of women. Especially in conservative families of India. The effect of colonialism can still be felt, and though women's rights have progressed, they are still retarded and this book picks up those nuances well. I liked this book, and the only thing I would have liked is the pace. A little fast pace, and this book would be one of my favorites of this year.
Thank you, University of Nebraska Press, and Netgalley for this book.
Set in the backdrop of 1950s India where the country was just finding her bearings after years of colonization, Jaya and Kamlesh, who are twins, are pursuing their dreams. Jaya is pursuing medicine, and Kamlesh wants to be a school teacher. Both have different dreams, though. Things go haywire for this family, and it asks an important question of why the rules are different for women and men?
Things have changed over the years, but the truth of the matter is that some things are still the same for women. Society, honor of the family, and marriage are the burden of women. Especially in conservative families of India. The effect of colonialism can still be felt, and though women's rights have progressed, they are still retarded and this book picks up those nuances well. I liked this book, and the only thing I would have liked is the pace. A little fast pace, and this book would be one of my favorites of this year.
Thank you, University of Nebraska Press, and Netgalley for this book.
April 10, 2025
Parul Kapur has pulled off a tour de force with this stunning, provocative, moving novel that traces the journeys of twin sisters in Bombay making plays for their independence as artists, Jaya as a painter in the modern art movement of the 1950s and Kamlesh as a dancer. Fraught are the battles they must fight with the traditionalists in their family, their parents and grandmother, the matriarch. They would rather that Jaya become a doctor and Kamlesh a schoolteacher. The stakes are high because the twins’ efforts to express themselves threaten to ruin their reputations (make them unmarriageable) and bring shame and shunning to their families within this society tightly bound by old rules and manners. Kapur’s prose is seductive, rich with detail of place and time, as she slowly unfolds the story. Even though the twins engage in a conflict that tears them apart, it is impossible to imagine how either of them would be able to make the break without the other. The forces against their freedom are that strong. The novel takes a strong stand for art: “But art was a life too. It was a life made of impressions and dreams and colors. It was a life made of feeling.” Immerse yourself in Kapur’s impression, dreams, colors, and feelings—and be inspired!
September 12, 2024
Parul Kapur has captured the weight of postcolonial Indian culture in a story about a Punjabi family trying to raise two artistic daughters. Jaya is a gifted painter, but forced by her father to attend Medical College while Kamlesh, a traditional temple dancer, struggles to find an identity and a stage. The two young women are twins, and Kapur embodies their interactions with unexpected (and highly poetic) grace. A reader becomes enmeshed in the troubles of the family, the girls' implacable desire to express themselves, and the extent to which societal norms threaten to destroy the fabric of their lives. The presence of a freedom-fighting grandmother who refuses to acknowledge a like-minded courage and social conscience in the girls becomes yet another ironical dimension in this story. Kapur makes no apparent judgment about the parents' obsessions with home and reputation in their community, which makes the narrative even more real. The end result is a mixture of insight and sadness, but well worth the read.
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March 5, 2024See full review in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Atlanta author Parul Kapur’s “Inside the Mirror” is an enveloping work of historical fiction centered on artistic twin sisters coming of age in 1950s Bombay (present-day Mumbai) that delivers an evocative study on the modern art movement in India.
The story opens with twins and expands the concept of dual nature into a compelling exploration of the self vs society. As the characters push for their own advancements, India’s independence from British rule and the Partition of India force changes many citizens find difficult to embrace...
https://www.ajc.com/things-to-do/twin...
Atlanta author Parul Kapur’s “Inside the Mirror” is an enveloping work of historical fiction centered on artistic twin sisters coming of age in 1950s Bombay (present-day Mumbai) that delivers an evocative study on the modern art movement in India.
The story opens with twins and expands the concept of dual nature into a compelling exploration of the self vs society. As the characters push for their own advancements, India’s independence from British rule and the Partition of India force changes many citizens find difficult to embrace...
https://www.ajc.com/things-to-do/twin...
March 5, 2024
It's 1950s Bombay, and twin sisters Jaya and Kamlesh aspire to become artists, but it's up to the father in their Bengali community to choose his daughters' professions and husbands. Jaya studies medicine, but she's a talented painter, and Kameless studies education, but she is highly trained in a classical Hindu dance form called Bharata Natyam.
This is a beautifully written novel set just a few years after the 1947 partition of India, about family, art, British colonialism, and coming of age in a time and place in which women could not easily choose their own paths.
I was honored to interview the author for the New Books Network- https://newbooksnetwork.com/inside-th... #novel #historicalfiction #podcast
This is a beautifully written novel set just a few years after the 1947 partition of India, about family, art, British colonialism, and coming of age in a time and place in which women could not easily choose their own paths.
I was honored to interview the author for the New Books Network- https://newbooksnetwork.com/inside-th... #novel #historicalfiction #podcast
March 29, 2024
A great, absorbing read, featuring characters so real I expected to meet them walking down the street (but could also imagine sitting down with them for a good long chat.) .The story goes deep into family dynamics & the cost of forming a separate identity, especially for young women. Despite the historical setting of 1950s Bombay, I think the obstacles to women realizing themselves as artists (those grasping hands on the woman's body in Jaya's self-portrait!!) are still pretty true today.
++Bonus points for all the extra info about the history of Bharata Natyam & the Indian Modern Art movement.
++Bonus points for all the extra info about the history of Bharata Natyam & the Indian Modern Art movement.
January 23, 2025
NSIDE THE MIRROR is a sparkling jewel of a novel, an impressive debut which follows twins Jaya and Kamlesh as they pursue artistic ambitions. Battling their own fears, the young women wrestle with the familial and cultural expectations holding them back. Kapur has crafted an elegant and heartfelt story about trying to balance desire and duty, pride and shame. Even as relationships splinter and trust is broken, Jaya and Kamlesh bravely seek lives without limits, lives in which they attain the respect they have long deserved.
Heather Bell Adams, author of Maranatha Road and The Good Luck Stone
Heather Bell Adams, author of Maranatha Road and The Good Luck Stone
abandoned
July 27, 2024I dnf (did not finish) this book at 10%. I tried reading the ebook and then the audiobook, and I still couldn’t get into it. We follow twin sisters on two separate life paths. One is enrolled in a medical college, and there were descriptive scenes dealing with cadavers. I wasn’t prepared for the intense medical jargon and knew I didn’t want to continue reading. I recognize that this could be a very interesting read for many, unfortunately it wasn’t my kind of read.
May 30, 2024
This book began a little slow, but I deeply enjoyed it. It was full of sisterhood, family, passion, love, and conflict. The main character struggles between focusing on medical school and being a gifted painter while also trying to maintain different relationships with family members, mentors, her community, etc. There is a little romance, but it is not the focus of the novel.
March 7, 2024
I loved this book! So well-written
August 10, 2024
It didn’t work as well for me as I expected.
Lengthy writing which I think was abit too much, and doesn’t bring out the theme very strongly or clearly.
Might work for you!
Lengthy writing which I think was abit too much, and doesn’t bring out the theme very strongly or clearly.
Might work for you!
Read
December 22, 2024The character Jaya and the background of post-Partition Mumbai are both so vivid but somehow the story itself feels a little underbaked :(
December 17, 2024
The Publisher Says: Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel
Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2024
In 1950s Bombay, Jaya Malhotra studies medicine at the direction of her father, a champion of women’s education who assumes the right to choose his daughters’ vocations. A talented painter drawn to the city’s dynamic new modern art movement, Jaya is driven by her desire to express both the pain and extraordinary force of life of a nation rising from the devastation of British rule. Her twin sister, Kamlesh, a passionate student of Bharata Natyam dance, complies with her father’s decision that she become a schoolteacher while secretly pursuing forbidden dreams of dancing onstage and in the movies.
When Jaya moves out of her family home to live with a woman mentor, she suffers grievous consequences as a rare woman in the men’s domain of art. Not only does her departure from home threaten her family’s standing and crush her reputation; Jaya loses a vital connection to Kamlesh.
Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel, Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror is set in the aftermath of colonialism, as an impoverished India struggles to remake itself into a modern state. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: A debut novel that won the right to come out from a very distinguished press (see the link to the prize details above), this read is treading a well-worn path in its use of twin sisters on opposite sides of the eternal struggle for freedom of self-definition. Resisting patriarchy, Jaya refuses to knuckle under to her father's will for her future. It is of course the case that she suffers personal and social consequences for her self-willed rebellion.
Her obedient sister Kamlesh suffers, too...but the issues she faces down count for less in the storyverse because they are those faced down by multitudes of women around the world. The main take-away for me was that the father's quite surprising resistance to the women's desire for autonomy came from a genuine concern for them and their future happiness, not from mustachio-twirling meanness. He did, after all, make a radical (for the time) choice to educate his daughters. It isn't a development completely out of the blue, though...their grandmother was an active anti-colonial force, and the old saying about apples and trees is an evergreen for a reason...and still they face intrafamilial resistance to their using their educations for themselves.
Author Kapur is a former travel writer, UN press officer, and a current resident of the US. Her travels and her extended residence in Mumbai have all honed her observational skills to a great degree, resulting in a read that feels more immersive than I ever expected it to feel. Evoking so vividly a place as alien to my privileged white US upbringing as the India of the 1950s is a great feat of craft. To do this as deftly and effortlessly as Author Kapur does is to feel myself in talented hands indeed.
The feminist agenda in the story is the best bit for me. I am all in on the role of patriarchy being limned in completely unflattering shades. It does not like gay men, possibly even more than it does not like women. We have a common enemy. As the possibly well-intentioned old man tries to squash his already-unusually educated daughters' desires for control over their own futures, I nodded along and even felt a lot of empathy for Kamlesh...I too knuckled under for the sake of harmony and found only dissatisfaction and a deep sense of injury.
So why am I so mingy with my stars? I admire the story, the storytelling voice, the character-building...sounds like a solid five, right? Nope. I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my brain at the fact that the women formed a love triangle with a man I can't even recall the name of. I was actively irked by the powerful, freedom-fighter grandmother's odd powerlessness in guiding the women to more, and better, uses of their minds with full family support.
It just didn't come across as well thought-out to me. So the inevitable first-novel longueurs are indeed present. The fact of them means I really can't give the last star. It is a read I recommend because it hits more sweet notes than clanging ones, and tells a very interesting, involving story well.
Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2024
In 1950s Bombay, Jaya Malhotra studies medicine at the direction of her father, a champion of women’s education who assumes the right to choose his daughters’ vocations. A talented painter drawn to the city’s dynamic new modern art movement, Jaya is driven by her desire to express both the pain and extraordinary force of life of a nation rising from the devastation of British rule. Her twin sister, Kamlesh, a passionate student of Bharata Natyam dance, complies with her father’s decision that she become a schoolteacher while secretly pursuing forbidden dreams of dancing onstage and in the movies.
When Jaya moves out of her family home to live with a woman mentor, she suffers grievous consequences as a rare woman in the men’s domain of art. Not only does her departure from home threaten her family’s standing and crush her reputation; Jaya loses a vital connection to Kamlesh.
Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel, Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror is set in the aftermath of colonialism, as an impoverished India struggles to remake itself into a modern state. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: A debut novel that won the right to come out from a very distinguished press (see the link to the prize details above), this read is treading a well-worn path in its use of twin sisters on opposite sides of the eternal struggle for freedom of self-definition. Resisting patriarchy, Jaya refuses to knuckle under to her father's will for her future. It is of course the case that she suffers personal and social consequences for her self-willed rebellion.
Her obedient sister Kamlesh suffers, too...but the issues she faces down count for less in the storyverse because they are those faced down by multitudes of women around the world. The main take-away for me was that the father's quite surprising resistance to the women's desire for autonomy came from a genuine concern for them and their future happiness, not from mustachio-twirling meanness. He did, after all, make a radical (for the time) choice to educate his daughters. It isn't a development completely out of the blue, though...their grandmother was an active anti-colonial force, and the old saying about apples and trees is an evergreen for a reason...and still they face intrafamilial resistance to their using their educations for themselves.
Author Kapur is a former travel writer, UN press officer, and a current resident of the US. Her travels and her extended residence in Mumbai have all honed her observational skills to a great degree, resulting in a read that feels more immersive than I ever expected it to feel. Evoking so vividly a place as alien to my privileged white US upbringing as the India of the 1950s is a great feat of craft. To do this as deftly and effortlessly as Author Kapur does is to feel myself in talented hands indeed.
The feminist agenda in the story is the best bit for me. I am all in on the role of patriarchy being limned in completely unflattering shades. It does not like gay men, possibly even more than it does not like women. We have a common enemy. As the possibly well-intentioned old man tries to squash his already-unusually educated daughters' desires for control over their own futures, I nodded along and even felt a lot of empathy for Kamlesh...I too knuckled under for the sake of harmony and found only dissatisfaction and a deep sense of injury.
So why am I so mingy with my stars? I admire the story, the storytelling voice, the character-building...sounds like a solid five, right? Nope. I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my brain at the fact that the women formed a love triangle with a man I can't even recall the name of. I was actively irked by the powerful, freedom-fighter grandmother's odd powerlessness in guiding the women to more, and better, uses of their minds with full family support.
It just didn't come across as well thought-out to me. So the inevitable first-novel longueurs are indeed present. The fact of them means I really can't give the last star. It is a read I recommend because it hits more sweet notes than clanging ones, and tells a very interesting, involving story well.
July 31, 2024
I can't believe this is a debut! This book is STUNNING: it has one of the most gorgeous openings I've read all year!Despite not knowing anything about India or Indian culture I was totally wrapped up in this story of contemporary Mumbai, the 1947 partition, and the lives of artists in the book. The author both seems to know her world (lived in Mumbai for many years plus working as a press officer in the UN and at Travel and Leisure) and has thoroughly researched it. Jaya and Kamlesh are irresistible characters struggling to become artists in a 1950s patriarchal society and even on the other side of the world a century later I felt totally in their world. At first I was intimidated by the particularities of the place but in the end the author trusts her readers by not dumbing down the history and society.
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