3 Review(s)

“Like William Trevor, Samrat Upadhyay compresses into a short story the breadth of vision and human consequence we expect of a novel, and he does so in a prose that seems as natural as breathing. If there were an author of the universe who bestowed on us the tender regard that Upadhyay bestows on his struggling people, we would be blessed indeed.” –Scott Tussell Sandrs, author of A Private History of Awe “Elegant, rich, and pleasing, the stories of The Royal Ghosts will haunt readers long after the book is finished. There are tales of both the individual and the society, conveying a measured, transcendental gaze at the nature of the world.” –Diana Abu-Jaber, author of The Language of Baklava With emotional precision and narrative subtlety, The Royal Ghosts features characters attempting to reconcile their true desires with the forces at work in Nepalese society. Against the milieu of the violent Maoist insurgencies that have claimed thousands of lives, these people struggle with their duty to aging parents, an oppressive caste system and the complexities of arranged marriage. Examining Kathmandu during a time of political crisis and cultural transformation, and the effects of the city on individual consciousness, The Royal Ghosts is a brilliant novel on how peace and understanding can be obtained from the most unexpected sources. About the Author Samrat Upadhyay was born and raised in Kathmandu, moving to the United States of America at the age of twenty-one. His work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories and The Best of the Fiction Workshops. He is also the author of Arresting God in Kathmandu, a Whiting Award winner; The Royal Ghosts and The Guru of Love. The first Nepalese writer writing in English to be published in the west, he currently lives in Cleveland with his wife and daughter, and is a professor at Baldwin-Wallace College.