Product Details
Simon & Schuster UK, May 2009
Trade Paperback, 336 pages
ISBN-10: 1847374034
ISBN-13: 9781847374035
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Chapter 1
Description
When seventeen-year-old Anju wins an all-expenses-paid scholarship to study in New York for a year, she jumps at the chance to leave her home town in Kerala and embrace all that America has to offer. But there are bittersweet consequences ahead, not only for Anju, but also for the father and older sister she has left behind. For when the lie behnd Anju's scholarship is suddenly revealed she is left without a visa and, too proud to confess to her family, goes into hiding. She accepts a job in a suburban beauty salon and the offer of a roof over her head from the kindly Bird, who strangely seems to know more about Anju's past than Anju herself has told her. Meanwhile, Anju's family are on a mission to find her, trying not to contemplate the possibility that they might never see her again…
Atlas of Unknowns is vibrant, moving and breathtakingly told -- the debut of an irresistible and utterly original new voice in fiction.
Atlas of Unknowns is vibrant, moving and breathtakingly told -- the debut of an irresistible and utterly original new voice in fiction.
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1. Novelist Tania James discusses Atlas of Unknowns02:4934847279001 -
2. Tania James: Atlas of Unknowns02:4934856740001 -
3. Tania James: Atlas of Unknowns02:4926189472001 -
4. Tania James: Atlas of Unknowns Book Trailer00:4323312530001
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How did you come to write this book?
It began with a story my father told me at Christmas time, when many Kerala Christian children set off firecrackers to celebrate the holiday. My father spoke of one boy who had set off a firecracker, which had not fully detonated when it fell to the ground, so when the boy picked up the firecracker, it exploded in his hand, leaving him with severe burns. That image kept returning to me, until I wrote it down a month later. I wrote drafts upon drafts of that scene, and slowly the characters fell into place. In that scene, I had a sense of the mother's absence haunting the edges of the story, but there were many mysteries that only revealed themselves later on, as the writing process continued.
Reuters India, April 1, 2010
...NEW DELHI (Reuters Life!) - Writer Tania James oscillates between India and America in her debut novel about two sisters, illegal immigration and bikini waxes at an Indian beauty salon. In "Atlas of Unknowns", Anju betrays her ...
Yahoo! News, March 31, 2010
...NEW DELHI (Reuters Life!) – Writer Tania James oscillates between India and America in her debut novel about two sisters, illegal immigration and bikini waxes at an Indian beauty salon. In "Atlas of Unknowns", Anju betrays her ...
Reuters UK, March 31, 2010
...NEW DELHI (Reuters Life!) - Writer Tania James oscillates between India and America in her debut novel about two sisters, illegal immigration and bikini waxes at an Indian beauty salon. In 'Atlas of Unknowns,' Anju betrays her ...
Keep Media, December 25, 2009
...novel is a remarkable portrait of an architect who is forced to build a new life for himself. Atlas of Unknowns, by Tania James (Knopf; 336 pages; $24.95). This dazzling and deeply absorbing debut novel follows two sisters, one of whom ...
San Francisco Chronicle, December 20, 2009
...novel is a remarkable portrait of an architect who is forced to build a new life for himself. Atlas of Unknowns, by Tania James (Knopf; 336 pages; $24.95). This dazzling and deeply absorbing debut novel follows two sisters, one of whom ...
Winston-Salem Journal, November 1, 2009
...ATLAS OF UNKNOWNS. By Tania James. Knopf. 336 pages. $24.95. In her debut novel, Atlas of Unknowns, Tania James weaves together a delicate story of an uneasy sisterhood alongside a ...
Huffington Post, July 13, 2009
...I had the pleasure of listening to Tania James read from her novel, Atlas of Unknowns, a few weeks ago. The few paragraphs she chose, had me hooked. The entire novel, now that I've completed it, didn ...
Washington Missourian, June 23, 2009
...evokes a sense of gratitude for the significant others in our lives. *** 'Atlas of the Unknowns,' by Tania James. Reviewed by Kim Gluba, Washington Public Library. 'Atlas of Unknowns' is a tale of betrayal, secrets and the love between blood ...
The Detroit Free Press, June 21, 2009
...'Atlas of Unknowns,' the story of two sisters from India and a betrayal that rocks their world, is the work of first-time novelist Tania James. Of course you can get ...
Louisville Courier-Journal, May 8, 2009
...Sure, we could tell you again how much we love Tania James' debut, 'Atlas of Unknowns,' and how impressive it is for a Louisvillian to have her first novel on Knopf. But we'll let Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Diaz sing ...
ReadingGroupGuides.com, May 7, 2009
...336 Format: Hardcover ISBN: 9780307268907 Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Set in the 1990s, in India and America, Tania James?s is a poignant, complex, and often vibrantly humorous exploration of one family?s search for ...
Daily Candy, April 21, 2009
...But such is the case of Atlas of Unknowns, Tania James?s debut novel. The book explores the strength of bonds between sisters when they?re tested by distance, time, and betrayal. Linno and Anju Varalla?s ...
Examiner.com, April 20, 2009
...t 7 PM: Tania James, author of the debut novel Atlas of Unknowns, will read at 192 Books this week. It's the story of two Indian sisters being raised by their father after ...
Louisville Courier-Journal, April 5, 2009
...Years in Louisville helped authorTania James tap into her passion Meeting Tania James for the first time feels a lot like delving into the first several pages of 'Atlas of Unknowns,' her debut novel. Like her quirky yet relatable characters, ...
