The Impressionist

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review from Discover Great New Writers
In his dazzling first novel, Hari Kunzru exhibits an uncommon mastery of both language and subject. Taking readers on a whirlwind tour of the first half of the 20th century, Kunzru reveals his story through Pran Nath Razdan, a half-Indian, half-English boy, who is disowned by his high-caste family when they learn the truth of his parentage. Accustomed to the living in the lap of luxury and woefully unqualified to care for himself, Pran, now wholly alone, is forced to reinvent himself in his struggle to survive.

Desperate for food, Pran has one thing of value, his highly sought-after light skin, and he finds himself a hostage in a brothel, clothed in women's garb, drugged, and forced to assume the role of a sacrificial pawn in a game between colony and empire. But both factions self-destruct in a stupendously colorful way, and Pran escapes to Bombay, where he assumes a double life as both Robert, the obedient foster child of an eccentric Scottish missionary and his wife; and Pretty Bobby, errand boy for the sex shops in the city's infamous Falkland Road.

One night, when Pran witnesses a murder of a young Englishman about to return to his homeland for a proper education and to claim his inheritance, the quick theft of the victim's passport and boat tickets buys Pran yet another identity in a country he is prepared to make his own. Exquisitely skillful and wise, The Impressionist is full of unforgettable characters and insights -- into what it means to be black or white, and of the need to find a place where one belongs. (Spring 2002 Selection)

ANNOTATION

A 2002 New York Public Library "Book to Remember"
Finalist for the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes in the category of: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Fathered, through circuitous circumstances, by an Englishman, Pran Nath Razdan, the boy who will become the Impressionist, was passed off by his Indian mother as the child of her husband, a wealthy man of high caste. Growing up spoiled in a life of luxury just down river from the Taj Mahal, at fifteen the news of Pran's true parentage is revealed to his father and he is tossed out into the street—a pariah and an outcast. Thus begins an extraordinary, near-mythical journey of a young man who must reinvent himself to survive—not once, but many times.

Imprisoned by a brothel and dressed in women's clothes, his sensuous beauty is exploited as he is made to become Rukhsana, a pawn in a game between colony and empire. To a depraved British Major he becomes Clive, an object of desire taught to be a model English schoolboy. Escaping to Bombay he begins a double life as Robert, dutiful foster child to a Scottish missionary couple and as Pretty Bobby, errand boy and sometime pimp to the tawdry women of the city's most notorious district.

But as political unrest begins to stir, Pran finds himself in the company of a doomed young Englishman -- an orphan named Jonathan Bridgeman. Having learned quickly that perception is a ready replacement for reality, Pran soon finds himself on a boat bound for Southampton where, with Bridgeman's passport, he will begin again. First in London, then at Oxford, the Impressionist hones his chameleon-like skills, making himself whoever and whatever he needs to be to obtain what he desires.

From Victorian India to Edwardian London, from an expatriate community of black Americans in Paris to a hopeless expedition to study a lost tribe of Africa, Hari Kunzru's unforgettable novel dazzles with its artistry and wit while it challenges with its insights into what it means to be Indian or English, black or white, and every degree that lies between them.

Author Biography: Born in London and raised in Essex, Hari Kunzru is a freelance journalist and editor. He has written for a variety of English and international publications, including The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, The Economist, and Wired and was named "Young Travel Writer of the Year" by the Observer in 1999. This is his first novel.

FROM THE CRITICS

Dallas Morning News

Impressionist is smart, entertaining and engaging on many levels, an excellent first novel that deserves a wide readership.

New York Times

...this audaciously playful novel as a mixed-breed chameleon looking for the great, unattainable essence at the heart of British rule.

New York

[A] terrifically entertaining debut novel...

Detroit Free Press

...a great adventure yarn and an exploration of identity, both personal and national.

People Weekly