Review- House of Discord by Sadiqa Peerbhoy

House of Discord on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

A discordant family in a hate-driven city…will they find the ties that bind?

A tough matriarch; an effete father who escapes reality; a rebellious son who marries a Muslim girl; a depressed spinster daughter; a resident ghost and the discovery of some strange family secrets… 

The Deshmukhs of Barrot House are barely surviving in a rambling house in the middle of Bombay when violence knocks on the door.

The post-Babri Masjid Bombay of 1992 is a city wallowing in hate. The Deshmukhs find themselves in the vortex of the raging storm.

Will the famed Spirit of Bombay eventually rediscover the healing magic of communal tolerance? Will the family rediscover the love that will help them survive? Sadiqa Peerbhoy spins a multilayered family saga—a metaphor for the city she grew up in.

Release date: October 20th 2017

Published by: Readomania

Page numbers: 298

REVIEW: 

I quite enjoyed author Sadiqa Peerbhoy's Marry Go Round when I read it a few years ago. So when the author contacted me about her latest, House of Discord, I was pretty excited and immediately jumped at the opportunity to read the book. It was a delightful read that ended 2017 on a wonderful bookish note, for me. Besides, the entire backdrop of the book is what made me curious.

House of Discord is set in the backdrop of the communal riots that were a result of the Babri Masjid incident back in 1986. While the incident affected the entire country, this book focuses on the Deshmukhs of Barrot House, Rompton Road, Mumbai. A prestigious, respected and honoured family to everyone on the outside, the Deshmukhs make for a quirky and entertaining family, where it's difficult to digest how some of the members are blood related because they seem to be poles apart.

I enjoyed the company of the Deshmukhs so much that I found it hard to say goodbye to the book. I wanted their story to go on and on. Barrot House, which houses our ten main characters (and many more) in the book, was such a fun and wonderful place to be in. While all the characters were well made, stood out tall and shined in their own unique way, the one person whose dialogues, scenes and persona I thoroughly enjoyed was Dhonduram. He was an awesome character who I'm not going to forget easily.

Although I am not the biggest fan of movies, Sadiqa Peerbhoy writes entertainers that would make for superb Bollywood films, but all I hope is that the author keeps writing because her story-telling is excellent. While her first, Marry Go Round was a nice read, House of Discord was far more easier for me to relate to with it being set in late 1980s Mumbai and revolving around a typical Maharashtrain family. I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful read which has easily been one of my best reads of 2017. What a way to end the year!

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by Sadiqa Peerbhoy in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

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