‘My life was simple: repetitive, predictable. Then the predictability blew away like vapor when the bomb fell.’ Seven-year-old Parvati’s perfect world came crashing down the night the bomb fell on her house and she lost her mother and grandmother. Her father, an army officer deployed in Kashmir during the ’71 war, also went missing that night. Orphaned overnight, Parvati left Ambala Cantt to live with her aunt’s family. Now, twenty years later, she has returned to 169, The Mall to exorcize the ghosts of the past. While trying to find out what happened on that fateful night Parvati experiences the familiarity and warmth of life in a small cantonment—impromptu picnics, polo matches, husbands’ nights. But she also uncovers deep secrets and a web of lies that will forever alter the course of her life. In The House on Mall Road Mohyna Srinivasan gives us a unique glimpse of life in the army—the hospitality of the people, their kindness and affection, the quaint yet charming traditions that uphold authority and valor while always maintaining respect and camaraderie. Dramatic and riveting, The House on Mall Road is a spellbinding debut novel.
