The Crow Eaters
Fiction

The Crow Eaters

“A rollicking comic tale.” —NEW YORK TIMES
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“A lively and entertaining first novel by a talented writer” (Washington Post), The Crow Eaters introduces readers to the unforgettable Faredoon Junglewalla.

Loading his pregnant wife, infant daughter, and widowed mother-in-law into a bullock cart, Faredoon—Freddy for short—leaves his ancestral village in the forests of central India, bound for the bustling city of Lahore. Despite the nagging of his unbearable mother-in-law, Freddy’s business and family flourish, and he soon becomes a patriarchal figure in the thriving Parsee community. This endearing family saga provides a vibrant window onto life in India under British colonial rule, and a nation on the threshold of historic transformation.

Amusing and profoundly revealing, The Crow Eaters is the compelling debut of Bapsi Sidhwa, an author who “writes with an earthy zest and affection for her characters” (New York Times).

ISBN
9781571310507
Publish Date
Pages
272
Dimensions
5.5 × 8.5 × 0.75 in
Weight
12.6 oz
Author

Bapsi Sidhwa

Bapsi Sidhwa has been widely celebrated as the finest novelist produced by her country—the New York Times called her “Pakistan’s finest English-language novelist.”

Praise and Prizes

  • “Very funny … An affectionate and amusing chronicle of one eccentric Indian family’s rise to prosperity … The Crow Eaters is best read as a series of wonderfully comic episodes, to be enjoyed for their wit and absurdity.”

    Washington Post
  • “Funny, exotic, bawdy, ingenious, always entertaining.”

    People
  • “A rollicking comic tale … Throughout the novel, Bapsi Sidhwa’s prose is boisterous and florid, and The Crow Eaters never fails to entertain. She writes with an earthy zest and affection for her characters.”

    New York Times
  • “A picaresque, comic tale … It recalls the past in charming detail.”

    Los Angeles Times
  • “Bapsi Sidhwa makes every step of Faredoon’s journey through time and culture a joy to read.”

    Library Journal
    *starred review*