"[Roy] is a writer of great subtlety and intelligence, who understands that emotional power comes from the steady accretion of detail....[All the Lives We Never Lived] does not directly refer to #MeToo or the macho hyper-nationalism of today's India. But in its portrayal of power structures, it is part of those very contemporary political conversations. It is also a beautifully written and compelling story of how families fall apart and of what remains in the aftermath."--
Kamila Shamsie, The Guardian"Roy's writing is a joy."--
Financial Times"Poetic, elegiac . . . Roy's eye is tender. . . . The scope of
All the Lives We Never Lived is vast but also personal."--
Sean Hewitt, Irish Times"
All the Lives We Never Lived is a moving and beautiful story of loss, of the lives of those beloved to us. What makes this novel so special is the sinuous way Anuradha Roy seamlessly and masterfully shuttles between time, overlaying the past with the present, mystery with knowledge to cumulatively create a brilliant tapestry that is the story." --
Chigozie Obioma, Man Booker Prize finalist for The Fishermen"A lush and lyrical fusion of history and storytelling....This mesmerizing exploration of the darker consequences of freedom, love, and loyalty is an astonishing display of Roy's literary prowess." --
Publisher's Weekly "[A] moving tale... Roy (
Sleeping on Jupiter, 2016) peppers her novel with intricate descriptions of small-town India and weaves an eloquent and tragic story of straitjacketed lives upended when history and personal ambition intersect."--
Booklist"This novel has an epic feel but also portrays the feelings of an abandoned child and captured woman while strongly evoking the sounds, scents, plants, people, and social structures of India at the time."--
Library Journal"
All the Lives We Never Lived begins in such intimate, private pain, but as Myshkin's sympathies expand, so does the novel's scope. The result is a story that eventually encompasses the world far beyond a boy's little town....Even more captivating than the unexpected turns of this plot is the way [Roy] reaches into the depths of melancholy but never sinks into despair."--
Ron Charles, The Washington Post "Lyrical, subtle, [and] finely observant. . . . A novel of history, both global and personal, gracefully wrought."--
Kirkus Reviews"One of India's greatest living authors."--
O, The Oprah Magazine "Anuradha Roy blends historical fact and remarkable real-life characters into her tale, which takes freedom, in all its messy complexity, as its theme . . . Amid the atmospheric detailing there are pin-sharp modern resonances with modern India's nationalism and punishing patriarchy."--
Siobhan Murphy, The Times (UK) "[Roy's] mastery of detail ties an intimate domestic drama to national history, offering a portrait of one family's troubles with desire and loss that speaks to the more universal struggles for personal and political freedom....Roy's skillful blending-of fact and fiction, of personal and political, and of suspense and reward-creates a rich and layered read. But the modern resonances of rising nationalism, in India and beyond, ensure that Roy's story of what happened in Muntazir transcends its own pages."--
Time "Perceptive . . . an affecting tale of loss, remarriage, and rediscovery."--
BookPage "Set aside some time during the holidays to read this beautifully written novel about culture, identity, and family."--
HelloGiggles "Spanning World War II Germany to present-day India, Anuradha Roy's latest novel presents a powerful portrayal of love as a son goes in search of the truth about his mother."--
MyDomaine "In
All the Lives We Never Lived, small moments of connection ultimately prove to be the most profound....[Roy] paints a thoughtful portrait of family and freedom."--
Shelf Awareness "A powerful family story set in postwar India, about a mother who leaves her family to pursue her artistic passions, and a son who tries to understand her choice."--
Entertainment Weekly "The themes of freedom and revolution echo through the book as an older gentleman pieces together childhood memories of his artistic mother as he tries to understand why she abandoned him so many years ago. Set in the 1980s, his tale reaches back to India's fomenting pre-revolutionary era that led up to World War II, and the insights and lessons ring just as true today."--
Christian Science Monitor "Roy's writing is surpassingly vivid and gorgeous... You could say that
All the Lives We Never Lived is about two struggles for independence, playing out against the backdrop of World War II: India's battle against colonialism, and a woman's against marital entrapment. Roy balances the political and the personal with skill and power, giving us a country and a family rocked by change, grief and passion." -
Bookreporter.com