The Lowland

The Lowland
Author Jhumpa Lahiri
Language English
Published 2013 (2013) Alfred A. Knopf / Random House
Media type Print (hardcover)
Pages 340
ISBN 978-0-30726-574-6
Preceded by Unaccustomed Earth

The Lowland is the second novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, published by Alfred A. Knopf and Random House in 2013.

Plot

Part I

Raised in Tollygunge in Calcutta, brothers Subhash and Udayan are inseparable; they find joy in fixing and listening radios, learning Morse Code, and looking out for each other at school. When they leave home for university studies, their ideologies are challenged; Udayan embraces the Naxalite Movement while Subhash is more interested in furthering education in preparation for his career and leaves for graduate studies in Rhode Island. Subhash learns that despite the massive bloodshed as a result of the Naxalite Movement, all attention from the press is focused on the Vietnam War. At the end of his first year in the United States, Subhash learns that Udayan has found a wife, Gauri.

Part II

Gauri, who meets Udayan through her brother, is at first apathetic to him. As time passes, however, they two talk and trade ideas. Udayan tells of his CPI(M) days while Gauri discusses philosophy. Udayan proves his love for Gauri when he waits for her indefinitely outside a movie theater. Meanwhile, Subhash befriends Holly and her son Joshua, who he meets on a beach in Rhode Island. He learns that she is a single mother, separated from her husband Keith. They have sex one night while Joshua is at his father's place. Despite this, Subhash wonders at how Holly is able to be so calm when communicating with "someone who had hurt her" in Subhash's mind; this is evident when Subhash notices how she is able to calmly relay Keith directions over the telephone on how to treat an ill Joshua who is in his care for the weekend. Holly ultimately decides to go back to Keith for Joshua's sake. Shortly after beginning his third year, Subhash learns from his parents in a letter than Udayan has been killed.

Awards and nominations

In September 2013, The Lowland was placed on the shortlist for the 2013 Man Booker Prize,[1][2] which ultimately went to The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. The following month it was also long-listed for the National Book Award for Fiction, and revealed to be a finalist on October 16, 2013.[3] In April 2014, it was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.[4] It won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature (2014).[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘The Lowland’ on Booker shortlist". The Hindu. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Masters, Tim (2013-07-23). "Man Booker judges reveal 'most diverse' longlist". BBC. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  3. ↑ "2013 National Book Award Finalist, Fiction". Nationalbook.org. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  4. ↑ Mark Brown (7 April 2014). "Donna Tartt heads Baileys women's prize for fiction 2014 shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Claire Armitstead (22 January 2015). "Jhumpa Lahiri wins $50,000 DSC prize for south Asian literature". The Guardian. Retrieved January 22, 2015.


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