1:00-2:00 PM
Free

The Friday book club at the Gunn Memorial Library is reading The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, winner of the 2006 Booker Prize for Fiction.

In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, an embittered judge wants only to retire in peace when his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his doorstep. The judge’s cook watches over her distractedly, but his thoughts are usually on his son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one gritty New York restaurant to another. As her characters’ lives overlap and intertwine, Kiran Desai’s brilliant novel illuminates a story of joy and despair, as well as the pain of exile and the ambiguities of postcolonialism.

Set against the backdrop of the Himalayas, The Inheritance of Loss is a poignant and beautifully crafted novel that explores themes of migration, identity, class, and the legacies of colonialism. Through her intricate storytelling, Desai captures the universal tensions between tradition and change, belonging and alienation — making her work a perfect choice for deep and thoughtful discussion.

The Gunn Library book clubs celebrate the world’s finest fiction by reading and discussing past Booker Prize–winning novels, from the 1970’s to the present.

Registration is required.

Copies of the book are available at the circulation desk.

Gunn Memorial Library
5 Wykeham Rd
Washington, CT 06793

https://www.gunnlibrary.org/calendar/gml-friday-book-club-the-inheritance-of-loss-by-kiran-desai/