Ishani Kar Purkayastha works in London as a doctor in the field of public health. She has won commendations for her writing from the jury of the STA and the Guardian Young Travel Writer Award. Ishani has also won the 2010 Lancet Wakley Prize for her essay, ‘An Epidemic of Loneliness’. This is her first novel.
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In the sleepy by-lanes of 1980s’ Calcutta, a young boy spends hours in front of the mirror, draped in his mother’s saris, his face layered with make-up, as he dances and twirls around the room. Often, when he dances, he catches a glimpse of a face that is his and not quite his. His mother is ashamed of her effeminate son; his friends tease him about his eccentricities; and Moyur grows up an unwitting outcast, misunderstood by all but his friend and neighbour, Jonali. Sensitive and evocative, this promising debut novel tells the story of Moyur, the boy who never quite fits in, and that of his twin sister Moyna, who died before she was born.
