Fiction Pick of the Week: Dahanu Road

Dahanu Road by Anosh Irani

Set outside Bombay in the quiet coastal community of Dahanu, young Zairos Irani must decide whether or not to become involved with the daughter of one of his farm workers who has tragically died. Attracted by the beautiful but tragic Kusum, does Zairos have the courage and commitment to try to rescue her from a life of poverty and misery, or will he weaken before the barriers of class and ethnicity? And can any efforts of his possibly succeed enough to justify the price they both must pay?

As the story unfolds, Zairos learns from his embittered grandfather that he, too, faced this same decision sixty years in the past, and his choices led to tragic consequences for both the farm worker’s family and his own. A compelling story of the tension between hope and hopelessness, desire and fear.