Damage

provocative work of fiction that explores the fragile nature of Indian secularism and the constant threat to it from fundamentalists of all faiths A brilliant first novel about old age dysfunctional relationships and the disorientation of beliefs Damage is the story of Beatrice a fanatical Indian Christian missionary and Gudda her youngest daughter a missionary-hater separated from her husband and therefore doomed to be the one out of four sisters to return home to look after an ailing mother. With a shrilly evangelical mother a broken marriage and sisters who suspect she is around only to usurp the family property Gudda is already insecure when a new government comes to power in New Delhi at whose behest Christians are brutally attacked all over India. Gudda is caught between her dislike for her kin and a growing sense of kinship with the community and faith she has for so long ignored. Amrita Lila Kumar has been editor-in-chief Roli Books associate editor Penguin Books India managing editor Encyclopedia Britannica and freelance editor with Rupa & Co. and HarperCollins. She is currently senior editor with Osian's literary agency in New Delhi. This is her first novel.