Thanks NetGalley and publishers for e-ARC in exchange for honest review.

My honest review: I struggled with this debut novel. It was quite well written, but I did not enjoy reading it. It started very strong, but the historical fiction component only occurred at the outset and then disappeared a few chapters in. I stopped reading every page after 10% and skimmed the rest.

It was very long and I did not feel much connection to either of the main characters; I think this was because it was written in the third person, so I could not really get inside their heads. Cecilia had such a hard life but I couldn’t see it from her perspective so I felt like I was just supposed to pity her, rather than see her as a full person. I would therefore say it fits in the misery lit genre.

I did appreciate learning about the history and cultures of Bombay/Mumbai.

Because I did not read every page carefully, I may be being overly harsh, but I’m glad I didn’t because I think it would have been too painful for me at the moment.

Readers should emotionally prepare themselves; this is a very difficult read.

engrossing, solid, and generally quite effective work over a fairly long time about the entwined lives of people. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

A wonderful debut novel based around an aging history professor Francis Almeida and Celia D Souza the daughter of a poor fisherman and their families. The novel spans several decades from the 1970s to the 2000's as Celia and Francis' lives entwine. I loved how the author lucidly details the mundane everyday lives of Celia's fisherfolk community as also the middle class existence of Francis Almeida and his family as the city around them transforms and grows and changes its name from Mumbai to Bombay as also its landscape from squat houses to high rises. The pacing is slow but there is never a dull moment - it is a story to be savoured slowly like sipping a hot cup of tea or chai as you call it in Mumbai. The latter part of the story goes on to deal with the AIDS epidemic and the travails of early patients. Totally recommend for anybody who loves Mumbai, multi-generational family drama and just good clean stories.

Thank you Knopf Publishing Group for the ARC

This engrossing novel is set in the 1980s to the early 2000s, at the time when Bombay was becoming Mumbai. It's set in a Christian enclave, which includes poorer people who make a living fishing, and middle class educators, lawyers and businesspeople. People have Portuguese names and are very involved in their Catholic churches.

Nalini Jones focuses on Celia, the daughter of a fishing family and a father who is on the run from debt collectors, and Francis Almeida, a retired professor who zips around the neighborhood on his trusty bike. The two literally collide--little Celia runs into his bicycle or he runs into her; each has a version. The money given to Celia's mother in recompense will put their lives on an upward path, and the Almeidas will enjoy the freshest fish and friendship from the D'Mellos.

The Unbroken Coast is SO good. First of all, it's an unusual setting, and secondly, you will become completely involved with the characters and want to know more of their stories. I doubt there will be a sequel because Jones closes the circle of her novel with power and grace. This is Nalini Jones' first work of fiction and I hope it is not her last. The Unbroken Coast is completely immersive and completely satisfying. Many thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

A novel about several Indian families whose lives become entwined over several generations. Each character relates their backstory as well as their current living situation. Characters experience the changing of their town through the years and family dynamics are well told in each family. Dealing with topics such as controlling parents, arranged marriages, miscarriages, births, deaths, spousal abuse and memory loss as well as the then emerging HIV and AIDS crises one wonders how any of these characters manage to go on living day to day. Not an uplifting story by any means, but rather a true look into the lives of everyday citizens in a world that is rapidly changing and the clashes that come between the older and younger generations.

What a beautifully written story! Hard to believe that this is the debut work from the author. Set in a turbulent times in the city of Bombay's history, the story is an emotional rollercoaster. I would be eagerly awaiting future works from the author

“The Unbroken Coast” is Nalini Jones debut novel…..but she also published a collection of short stories called “What You Call Winter”: Stories (I already purchased it and started reading it too)

Nalini Jones is a new discovery for me — a wonderful discovery.
In “The Unbroken Coast” she takes the reader on an intriguing, journey, full of exciting discoveries, intricate descriptions of sights, smells, culture, history, with a full range of emotions of hardship’s, humiliation, helplessness, strength, pride, faith, and love.
The characters — both primary and supporting - have distinct characteristics and struggles.

A little history….
“The renaming of Bombay to Mumbai in 1995 was a period of significant turbulence, marked by strong opposition and intertwined with political and social tensions, particularly those related to Marathi identity and the Shiv Sena party. This shift followed a long-standing demand by the state government of Maharashtra to restore the city's original name, which they argued was a corrupted English version of Mumbai”.

“Spanning the turbulent years when Bombay became Mumbai, at time when environmental and economic pressures are just beginning to change the fortunes of indigenous fisherfolk, “The Unbroken Coast” is a lyrical novel that explores memory, faith, storytelling, and the nature of home”.

We meet Francis Almeida, an aging historian. He’s recently retired when he encounters a young mother, praying for her baby, ill with dengue fever.
“Nearly a decade later he meets a child again. Her name is Celia D’Mello, daughter of the fisherman who was running from a debt collector.
When an accident brings their families together, both Celia and Francis find themselves with unexpected new allies”.

Fisherman knew the waters the way they knew their wives. Possibly better!
Gossip stories were always buzzing around the fishing village.
….monster boats, fat-cat man who paid no attention monsoon bans, men who dragged their nets across the sea floor so that even the baby fish were swallowed up.
Every child in the village knew the bay was a sad old story.
Fish would make everything right. But there was a lot to worry about when the fish in the bay was gone.
Rain storms and cyclones created fear and challenges.
“Sometimes there were waves so high that a boat was tossed to pieces, and the men were never found”.

“All along the road, fisherwomen sat on plastic crates to sell the day’s catch.
No one was ever entirely alone in Bombay. Someone was always walking or watching, selling, or buying, jogging, or scolding, drinking, or begging, tending a fire, awaiting a train, wiping a windshield. hailing an autorick, sifting through rubbish, slapping a bullock, sleeping in a doorway. A dog ate from the street gutter. A man ducked his head for a roadside barber. Girls laughed on a balcony”.

This novel is 480 pages. It covers much more than I could possibly dish out.
I’ve been to India yet I never had the experience of a Catholic fishing village and its community. This novel delivers the experience.
The storytelling is both scholarly and accessible…. making the reader feel as though we are invited to be one of villagers.

Enjoyable…educational…intelligent…heartbreaking and heartwarming …with old fashion-styling….
If you love reading books set in India ….🇮🇳 …..this is a great pick.

*The Unbroken Coast* is a beautifully written debut that weaves together the lives of a retired professor and a young girl in a Mumbai fishing village. Set against the backdrop of a transforming city, the novel explores themes of memory, faith, and the search for belonging, as the unlikely friendship between Francis and Celia unfolds amidst personal and societal upheaval. With its lyrical prose, this story captures the deep emotional resonance of place and the passage of time.