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Review
A sparkling funny and poignant study of a young maths prodigy struggling with her gift and a difficult family (Gerard Woodward, , Books Of The Year Observer )
Superb, brilliantly realised. The searing narrative is unflinchingly and tenderly written (Independent )
Pinpoints with genuine insight the bewilderment and anguish of a young woman marked out from her peers (Sunday Times )
Lalwani's evocation of teenage dislocation is pitch-perfect and she inhabits her heroine's interior world with tender authority (Guardian )
The novel's triumph is in elucidating the hurt of both child and parents. Lalwani compellingly depicts the pain and pleasure of breaking the rules (New Statesman )
Beautiful, brilliant . . . Unveils the grand emotions and tiny details of other people's lives with insight, compassion, humour and heartbreaking honesty (Stephen Merchant )
Accomplished and confident. Much to admire from the assured descriptions to the well judged blend of comedy and drama (The Times )
A poignant, vivid debut. Beautifully describes the dramas of growing up (, Book Of The Month Marie Claire )
A giddy portrayal of youthful exuberance unleashed that rings startlingly true (Metro )
Compelling, heart-wrenching and laced with redemptive hope . . . Touching and funny (Observer )
Superb, brilliantly realised. The searing narrative is unflinchingly and tenderly written (Independent )
Pinpoints with genuine insight the bewilderment and anguish of a young woman marked out from her peers (Sunday Times )
Lalwani's evocation of teenage dislocation is pitch-perfect and she inhabits her heroine's interior world with tender authority (Guardian )
The novel's triumph is in elucidating the hurt of both child and parents. Lalwani compellingly depicts the pain and pleasure of breaking the rules (New Statesman )
Beautiful, brilliant . . . Unveils the grand emotions and tiny details of other people's lives with insight, compassion, humour and heartbreaking honesty (Stephen Merchant )
Accomplished and confident. Much to admire from the assured descriptions to the well judged blend of comedy and drama (The Times )
A poignant, vivid debut. Beautifully describes the dramas of growing up (, Book Of The Month Marie Claire )
A giddy portrayal of youthful exuberance unleashed that rings startlingly true (Metro )
Compelling, heart-wrenching and laced with redemptive hope . . . Touching and funny (Observer )
Independent
'Superb, brilliantly realized. The searing narrative is unflinchingly and tenderly written'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Gifted is a novel of great power and enormous anger.
As the title suggests, the novel centres around a young girl, Rumi, who is found to have a gift for maths. Her parents - particularly her frightening father - decide the gift must be nurtured at all costs.
There are three principal characters, Rumi and her parents, Mahesh and Shreene. As a father figure, Mahesh would not have been out of place in Victorian Britain. He is strong, pious, bullying and hypocritical. Having inveigled his wife, Shreene, to follow him to Wales from India to make a better life, he sets about rejecting western values whilst enjoying them to the full. He prohibits his wife, an educated woman, from flourishing and exerts a huge degree of control on her time. Whilst this makes Shreene initially angry, she eventually seems to adopt the same values as Mahesh in order to make it appear as though she is in control o her destiny.
Then, when Rumi's gift is discovered, Mahesh finds a new opportunity to exert his control. Rumi's life ceases to be her own - a tight regime of libraries, study, discipline and obedience are imposed. Rumi tries to find small outlets for her individuality, sneakily reading fiction and pilfering sweets, but the brutality of her father constantly wins through. All Rumi can do is dream of outgrowing the nest and making an early journey away to university. Obviously, with her "gifts", Rumi finds a degree of celebrity which is not always helpful, particularly given her destiny to be younger and less mature than her peers. Both in Cardiff and in Oxford, she is something of a lab rat - expected to be a second Ruth Lawrence - but is at heart a likeable and ordinary girl.
The characterization is superb. The three principal characters strike so many chords. People like Rumi, Mahesh and Shreene exist - and not just within the Indian community. The novel is a caution on the results of trying to live your life through your offspring. It is a caution about attaching undue value and focus to a small part of a person. It makes one question the benefit of unbidden "gifts" that turn out to be white elephants. It also makes one wonder about the role of bystanders who are prepared to witness such appalling abuse without questioning it, just because it happens within the middle classes.
The level of hate that Rumi feels towards her parents - and especially Mahesh - just drips from the page. Rumi seldom says - even dares to think - harsh thoughts of them but the simmering, deep hatred is inescapable. Throughout the novel, one wills her to break free and realize her potential. At the end, one is left with envious admiration for her courage in daring to do what so many of us have wanted to do. But as to whether she has succeeded in breaking free, the reader is left to guess.
It was interesting to see in the acknowledgements at the end that Nikita Lalwani seems to have good relations with her own parents. She claims the work was inspired by Vik Sharma, presumably a friend or partner. To have produced a work so vivid through only vicarious experience is a wonder.
This is a work of immense power that will stay with me for a long time.
As the title suggests, the novel centres around a young girl, Rumi, who is found to have a gift for maths. Her parents - particularly her frightening father - decide the gift must be nurtured at all costs.
There are three principal characters, Rumi and her parents, Mahesh and Shreene. As a father figure, Mahesh would not have been out of place in Victorian Britain. He is strong, pious, bullying and hypocritical. Having inveigled his wife, Shreene, to follow him to Wales from India to make a better life, he sets about rejecting western values whilst enjoying them to the full. He prohibits his wife, an educated woman, from flourishing and exerts a huge degree of control on her time. Whilst this makes Shreene initially angry, she eventually seems to adopt the same values as Mahesh in order to make it appear as though she is in control o her destiny.
Then, when Rumi's gift is discovered, Mahesh finds a new opportunity to exert his control. Rumi's life ceases to be her own - a tight regime of libraries, study, discipline and obedience are imposed. Rumi tries to find small outlets for her individuality, sneakily reading fiction and pilfering sweets, but the brutality of her father constantly wins through. All Rumi can do is dream of outgrowing the nest and making an early journey away to university. Obviously, with her "gifts", Rumi finds a degree of celebrity which is not always helpful, particularly given her destiny to be younger and less mature than her peers. Both in Cardiff and in Oxford, she is something of a lab rat - expected to be a second Ruth Lawrence - but is at heart a likeable and ordinary girl.
The characterization is superb. The three principal characters strike so many chords. People like Rumi, Mahesh and Shreene exist - and not just within the Indian community. The novel is a caution on the results of trying to live your life through your offspring. It is a caution about attaching undue value and focus to a small part of a person. It makes one question the benefit of unbidden "gifts" that turn out to be white elephants. It also makes one wonder about the role of bystanders who are prepared to witness such appalling abuse without questioning it, just because it happens within the middle classes.
The level of hate that Rumi feels towards her parents - and especially Mahesh - just drips from the page. Rumi seldom says - even dares to think - harsh thoughts of them but the simmering, deep hatred is inescapable. Throughout the novel, one wills her to break free and realize her potential. At the end, one is left with envious admiration for her courage in daring to do what so many of us have wanted to do. But as to whether she has succeeded in breaking free, the reader is left to guess.
It was interesting to see in the acknowledgements at the end that Nikita Lalwani seems to have good relations with her own parents. She claims the work was inspired by Vik Sharma, presumably a friend or partner. To have produced a work so vivid through only vicarious experience is a wonder.
This is a work of immense power that will stay with me for a long time.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a beautifully written account of the very difficult youth and early adolescence of a Hindu girl living in England with her parents and younger brother. The girl shows a talent for maths at an early age, and this is aggressively pursued by her father, who is determined that she will set a record as the youngest person to take A Levels and gain entrance to Oxford. The father's obsessive bullying of his daughter to realise his ambition for her is intensely painful to read and, when combined with the whole family's acute sense of isolation as an Indian family living in the UK, makes the book sometimes almost unbearable. This is not a 'misery memoir' by any stretch of the imagination, however, and the central character emerges as a real person, full of contradictions and confusions, and is created with great skill by the author. Well worth reading, but be ready for a real sense of anguish at the heart of the book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a brilliantly told tale of a young girl, with a gift for mathematics, and her parents, who want with good intentions, push her as hard as they can academically. The writer develops the main characters very skillfully allowing you to really understand their motives, perspectives and confusion as to why the family begins to fracture.
This is one of the rare books that I couldn't put down while reading - the style and pace of the writing perfect and story unfolds in an unpredictable and captivating way. I can't wait for the author's next book.
This is one of the rare books that I couldn't put down while reading - the style and pace of the writing perfect and story unfolds in an unpredictable and captivating way. I can't wait for the author's next book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Spellbinding
Just 3 main characters and it still kept me reading into the wee hours of the night. The writing is beautiful and all the characters are wonderfully drawn. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Dan
Gifted - surely not the author!
I found it really hard to engage with this book. I just found it really dull and the story line just didn't grab me. As for the closing sentence - tackyville!
Published on 18 Nov 2009 by Sophie A. Jones
interesting
I have just finished reading the translated edition (in greek) of this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read more
Published on 15 July 2009 by nassia
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