The Dream Builders

(Paperback)

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'Epic ... Mukherjee allows full life for these characters who are often real enough to remind us of ourselves, even as they betray one another ... even as they betray themselves. This is a lovely debut.' -Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Tradition After living in the US for years, Maneka Roy returns home to India to mourn the loss of her mother and finds herself in a new world. The booming city of Hrishipur where her father now lives is nothing like the part of the country where she grew up, and the more she sees of this new, sparkling city, the more she learns that nothing - and no one - here is as it appears. Ultimately, it will take an unexpected tragic event for Maneka and those around her to finally understand just how fragile life is in this city built on aspirations. Written from the perspectives of ten different characters, Oindrila Mukherjee's incisive debut novel explores class divisions, gender roles, and stories of survival within a society that is constantly changing and becoming increasingly Americanised. It's a story about India today, and people impacted by globalisation everywhere- a tale of ambition, longing, and bitter loss that asks what it really costs to try and build a dream. 'Mukherjee has written a funny, moving, and often deliciously cynical novel about the illusive ideal we sometimes call the New India. Written from almost every angle imaginable, the novel demonstrates how each of us might be a hero in our own narratives while being the potential villain in someone else's.' -Tiphanie Yanique, author of Monster in the Middle 'Oindrila Mukherjee's The Dream Builders is such an impressive feat of storytelling, a novel that examines the constraints of class, of gender, of history, while showcasing the sheer expansiveness of the endeavour, skillfully shifting the point of view amongst a group of characters who each demand a claim on the story. It's a marvel of a structure, built by a great talent.' -Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here 'A multitude of voices and visions - arresting, wrenching, desiring - come together to create an astonishing, and astonishingly accurate, portrait of contemporary India. Oindrila Mukherjee has done a superb job.' -Chitra Divakaruni, bestselling author of The Mistress of Spices

Author Bio

Oindrila Mukherjee grew up in India and now lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she teaches creative writing at Grand Valley State University. She has a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Houston. A former journalist for India's oldest English language newspaper The Statesman, she is a regular contributor to the Indian magazine Scroll, and a contributing editor for Aster(ix), a US-based literary and arts magazine committed to social justice. She has been the recipient of fellowships and scholarships from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, Emory University, Inprint Houston, the Sewanee Writers Conference and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her short fiction has been published in literary magazines in the US. The Dream Builders is her debut novel.