Riot

I have read this book a long time ago . Picked it up beacuse I wanted to read something written by Sashi Tharoor , after reading it I became a fan .

The lead character is , a young social worker, Priscilla Hart, who comes to India to complete her PhD coursework . The other is Lakshman , a South-Indian brahmin, District Magistrate in a riotous town . The story is about their love affair caught in the crossfire of the communal tensions in the 1980's .

This book is most unique in its style of story telling . What you would find at the end of every novel , you find here in the beginning . The first page itself tells you about the death of Priscillia . The rest of the story progresses to tell us why and how . In the process there are various issues highlighted , like the aspirations and pshycie of an Indian at that time , aspirations of a young girl from the western world , their combined dreams of the future , the tensions caused by religious sentiment in India and much more . The beauty lies in the way the author potrays a balanced picture of the communal tensions . What really emerges is the conflict of communities rather than the conflict of religions .

The novel is structured by means of various transcripts, interviews and letters . The plot grows on you and you actually dont get to the bottom of what Tharror is trying to say till you reach the very end .

It is a brilliant book , must read .