THE WAY THINGS WERE

THE WAY THINGS WERE AATISH TASEER

When Uma marries Toby, he brings to her comfortable

life among Delhi’s moneyed elite a depth that was

otherwise missing. Toby’s passion for his wife is matched

only by his love for classical India, its language and its

art. But in the new India, one transformed by

rapacious energy and aspiration, there is little room

for such romanticism. Uma and Toby will find that they

have built their marriage on a fault line.

Decades later, their son, Skanda travels to India to

return his father’s body to his birthplace. This is a journey

that takes him halfway around the world and deep

within three generations of his family, whose fractures,

frailties and toxic legacies he has always sought

to elude.

“Ambitious, searching, highly readable.”- Hanya Yanagihara

“One of the best novels I’ve read in years.’ Shashi Tharoor

AATISH TASEER

is the author of Stranger to History: a Son's Journey through Islamic Lands (2009) and a highly acclaimed translation Manto: Selected Stories (2008). His novel, The Temple-Goers (2010) was shortlisted for the 2010 Costa First Novel Award. His second novel, Noon was also critically acclaimed. His works have been translated into over ten languages. He lives between Delhi and London.