When Sudha Balagopal describes food, you get hungry. When she describes sadness, you feel tears in your own heart. And so it is with Nose Ornaments, this finely crafted family saga of Lakshmi, and her daughter, Savi, and Savi’s daughter, Mini. Spanning years and geographies and cultures, we see how each woman lives in her particular time. So much changes in terms of men and marriage and work life. It’s a testament to how women adapt and blossom. But even more than that, it is the exquisite detail of Balagopal’s writing which is so precise and sensory, you may very well feel that you are not just reading this beautiful story, but living it as well.
— Francine Witte, author of RADIO WATER and The Way of the Wind
Sudha Balagopal’s Nose Ornaments spans three generations of strong women who don’t succumb to their circumstances, who make decisions, and who have the agency to turn unfavorable situations into opportunities. These are women who seek, women who resolve, women who guide. Throughout the story, Sudha, with her skill and sensitivity, examines the delicate relationships between mothers and daughters that, despite love, are fraught with complexities and misunderstandings. It is an emotional ride filled with hope and sensory details. Not to be missed.
—Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar, Author of Morsels of Purple and Skin Over Milk
Sudha Balagopal takes us on a journey spanning three generations and two continents, dealing love, heartache, tradition, and surprise in supercharged miniature doses. Each story in this novella pops with poignancy, with beauty, and with profundity. I loved reading this book and want to read it again.
—Michael Czyzniejewski, author of The Amnesiac in the Maze: Stories
Paperback ISBN 978-1-915247-62-9; 133mm x 203mm; 94pp
£10.99 GBP