Em and the Big Hoom

Profoundly moving . . . I cannot remember when I last read something as touching as this.” Amitav Ghosh, author ofThe Glass PalaceFirst published by a small press in India, Jerry Pinto’s devastatingly original debut novel has already taken the literary world by storm. Suffused with compassion, humor, and hard-won wisdom,Em and the Big Hoom is a modern masterpiece, and its American publication is certain to be one of the major literary events of the season.Meet Imelda and Augustine, oras our young narrator calls his unusual parentsEm and the Big Hoom. Most of the time, Em smokes endlessbeedis and sings her way through life. She is the sun around which everyone else orbits. But as enchanting and high-spirited as she can be, when Em’s bipolar disorder seizes her she becomes monstrous, sometimes with calamitous consequences for herself and others. This accomplished debut is graceful and urgent, with a one-of-a-kind voice that will stay with readers long after the last page.