Evening is the Whole Day, a new novel by Preeta Samarasan '98, received positive reviews in a New York Times review (7/27/08). Calling the book a "delicious first novel," reviewer Allegra Goodman writes, "Deftly switching points of view and flitting backward and forward in time, Samarasan constructs a narrative that opens outward even as it deepens, revealing the wounds and secrets within each character."
Publisher Houghton Mifflin describes the novel, "Set in Malaysia, the story describes the unraveling of the wealthy Rajasekharan family as its closely guarded secrets are slowly peeled away. When Chellam, the family's rubber-plantation-bred servant girl, is dismissed for unnamed crimes, her banishment is the latest in a series of recent, precipitous losses that have shaken six-year-old Aasha's life."
The New York Times review concludes, "But even if the seams don't match perfectly, Samarasan's fabric is gorgeous. Her ambitious spiraling plot, her richly embroidered prose, her sense of place, and her psychological acuity are stunning. Readers, responding to the setting, will immediately compare her to Kiran Desai. I think Samarasan's dialogue and description are reminiscent of Eudora Welty, another woman who knew how to write about family and race and class and secrets and heat."
Publisher Houghton Mifflin describes the novel, "Set in Malaysia, the story describes the unraveling of the wealthy Rajasekharan family as its closely guarded secrets are slowly peeled away. When Chellam, the family's rubber-plantation-bred servant girl, is dismissed for unnamed crimes, her banishment is the latest in a series of recent, precipitous losses that have shaken six-year-old Aasha's life."
The New York Times review concludes, "But even if the seams don't match perfectly, Samarasan's fabric is gorgeous. Her ambitious spiraling plot, her richly embroidered prose, her sense of place, and her psychological acuity are stunning. Readers, responding to the setting, will immediately compare her to Kiran Desai. I think Samarasan's dialogue and description are reminiscent of Eudora Welty, another woman who knew how to write about family and race and class and secrets and heat."
