It seems like it’s better late than never joining the Still Lives blog tour all the way from Southern Italy! Thanks to Will at Renard Press for including me on this blog tour and for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.
Young, handsome and contemptuous of his father’s traditional ways, PK Malik left Bombay and dreamed of a life in America designing high fashion. Stopping in Manchester to visit an old friend, PK finds himself staying in Northern England intent on developing a business opportunity. Now at fifty-five, PK has fallen out of love with life; he has fallen out of love with his wife Geeta and his business is falling apart. So when he crosses the path of Esther, the wife of his business rival, they launch into an affair. Still Lives is a haunting work that pulls apart the threads of a family and plays with the notions of identity.
Giving voice to an underrepresented perspective in literature, Still Lives makes space to discuss the difficulties of immigrant communities who settled in the north of England. You can really feel the longing for a community, particularly from PK’s wife Geeta, who seeks comfort in her Indian friends and writing letters home to her sister. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of Geeta’s letters, which gave cutting remarks on the narrative we had just been given from PK or even heartbreaking hope while he is having his affair with Esther.
I know a lot of people struggle with novels that have unlikeable characters and to a certain extent I found myself feeling the same thing about Still Lives. PK’s narrative voice was hard to stomach, especially with his opinions and descriptions of his wife and I frequently found myself wondering whether this was the perspective I wanted to read from. It’s often the point of these stories so that a redemptive arc can really take it’s form, but they are not always characters you feel particularly invested in.
A family drama that makes some really interesting points about belonging, heritage and ultimately the things that bring us together. Still Lives is a thought-provoking novel and despite the characters being difficult to bear, I really enjoyed reading this novel.
Still Lives by Reshma Ruia is published by Renard Press and is published on 29th June
Loz Lit 