What a book, this story is about love, loss, the way two women navigate grief, how they are treated by society and how they come to manage their relationship as mother and daughter. I find it hard to sum up a book that just makes you feel so much as you read it. It was a gorgeous insight into a mother - daughter relationship that is unlike anything I have read. They’re barely together in the story but in so many ways, their stories are about finding themselves in a time where they are coming to terms with a death in the family. I really thought the story of grief was told in a delicate, yet deeply moving way. It’s an empowering story of family as both the mother and the daughter deal with very different emotions connected to the death of their husband / father respectively.

There’s a political undertone with a fictional right-wing religious fundamentalist group that shapes the narrative as the women respond to the threats to their freedom. There is also a commentary on the class system, they live in as well as the people who live outside of it which I found really interesting.

Tara is a Sanskrit student and explores so many angles of her life and freedom through such stunning language, I would read a whole other book from her point of view alone. I want to know what happens next to these two women as I think their journey is just beginning.

Shashi and her daughter Tara are both mourning the death of Robi but they are in different places in life and come at It from different perspectives. How does Shashi cope as a widow? And Tara as a fatherless daughter? This is almost impressionistic in spots but it never lets you forget that it's set in an India which is also going through rapid social and economic change. It's quite character driven until Ghose moves to wax more philosophical near the end. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

This is not a relaxing or easy books as there's plenty of emotions and lot is happening in the mind of the characters.
A well plotted story, two well developed and interesting characters, good storytelling.
An excellent debut, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Illuminated looks at grief, and women resisting the pressure to conform to standard expectations of Indian women. The story predominantly follows Shashi and her daughter Tara, exploring their heartache at the loss of their husband/father. Shashi navigates the difficulties of grieving her husband amongst a world full of people telling her how she should be living her life. Tara has escaped the home she was raised in and is studying Sanskrit, where she has become entangled in an affair with a visiting scholar. The book examine the strengths and weaknesses of these women in beautiful storytelling narrative. I found flaws with both characters but ultimately grew to care deeply for them both and hope for a positive outcome. The way Ghose writes about family and the bonds of love between mother and daughter is stunning and I highly recommend this, especially to fans of Indian literature.

The Illuminated for me was a slow burning story, the more you read the more you want find out and want to find out about the lives of the two main characters Shashi and Tara. Their lives, despite a high degree of independance are still greatly under the influence of the men in them. I also loved the story of Poornima which you only get glimpses of until the end of the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the p;ublishers for allowing me to read The Illuminated.

Such a wonderful, thought provoking read. A excellent debut novel following a mother and daughter after the loss of their husband/father. A perfect title.

If a reader wants a sophisticated insight into Indian culture and its treatment of women, this will prove to be illuminating.it is not a book with an exciting plot leading to a dramatic conclusion, rather the story mainly of two women, charting their progress through life but particularly their relationships with men. It is well researched and written.

This is a story about women in India and how society and religions are trying (successfully) to show them where their place is. Sounds promising, but unfortunately, I did not enjoy this novel at all.
I just couldn't connect with the characters and found the plot uninteresting, even though I like the blurb.

Thank you for granting me access to this novel. I feel like I should apologize even for not reading it as soon as I got it. I went into this novel completely blind but I was drawn in by the cover and the fact that the author is of South Asian origin and damn do I feel mentally refreshed. I'm a polyreader but this book commanded my attention like no other. I have no way of talking about this book without dropping sping but this is a must-read. It's a book you experience with all your senses.

This is a book that is quite deceptive - you think there is not a lot happening, but in reality, the inner turmoil of the main characters is like riding a wave. Shashi and Tara - mother and daughter - two women whose lives are upended with the death of Robi, the husband/father. They have to navigate their own emotions and each other while coming to terms with this enormous loss. As mother and daughter, they are being buffeted in different directions and you have no idea how their difference can be resolved. This is a book about women, and not just Shashi and Tara, but women of different classes and persuasions. It covers love, desire, marriage and alongside this there is the MSS - an organisation which seems to want to put women back to the lives that they have worked hard to escape from, returning them to a time when men are in charge. The illumination of Shashi and Tara in the point of the book and when we get there - so worthwhile. I've never read anything by this author before, but I will looking for some more.