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Why it matters
Desai connects intimate loneliness to colonial history, migration, class, and globalization.
A celebrated work
The Inheritance of Loss
Kiran Desai2006 selection · Literary fiction
The Inheritance of Loss
In a Himalayan house, a retired judge, his granddaughter Sai, and their cook live amid political unrest and inherited shame. In New York, the cook’s son Biju moves through precarious jobs while dreaming of home.
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Read this if…
You like tragicomic family novels shaped by history and displacement.
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Ideas inside
migrationcolonialismclassbelonging
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