The Girl with the Golden Parasol

“Yes, The Girl with the Golden Parasol is about caste and its lingering hold in India, and it is about corruption in an age of globalization, and India’s notions of national identity, and colonialism. But it’s not simply ‘about’ these things—or simply a young-love story, either—as Prakash succeeds in weaving all these together in a surprisingly compelling and compact novel.”—Complete Review

Longlisted for the American Literary Translation Association’s 2014 National Translation Award

Honorable Mention, 2014 Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Outstanding Translation of a Literary Work, Modern Language Association

“Doom-laden yet tender, at once bitterly disillusioned and comic, this terrific novel is a paean to the dignity of human desires and to the last remnants of our bygone cosmopolitanisms. It’s also a memorable invective against the present state of provincial higher education, the Hindi language, the Brahmin legacy, and the bewildering India in which we now find ourselves.”—Amit Chaudhuri, author of The Immortals

“The Girl with a Golden Parasol brings news from a world that the English novel doesn’t even know existed. A contemporary classic by a master of Hindi literature.”—Amitava Kumar, author of Passport Photos

“Uday Prakash’s bhelpuri novel of students out in the sticks mixes up the elements of contemporary India—mod and trad, caste-bound and upwardly mobile—into an addictive street dish and a comedy of hopelessness. And happily Jason Grunebaum’s zingy translation doesn’t tone down the heat.”—Eliot Weinberger

“Uday Prakash’s beautifully written novel is a wonderful mix of light-hearted comedy, the vividness and tenderness of young love, juxtaposed with disillusionment, corruption in high places and the political machinations that accompany it. . . . Jason Grunebaum’s translation is excellent as throughout the story maintains a swift and engaging pace and nowhere does the reader’s interest flag.—Dawn

“Uday Prakash’s The Girl with the Golden Parasol is as much a lesson in the craft of storytelling as it is a good read.—Tehelka