A Cool, Dark Place  (English, Hardcover, Dravid Supriya)

Flipkart Official Review

Dysfunctional families and literature go hand in hand. It is almost as if they are made for each other. From Anna Karenina to Wuthering Heights, each is better (or worse) than the other. Everything happens in the blink of an eye in such stories and maybe that is why they are so gripping. “A Cool Dark Place” by Supriya Dravid is one such book.
 

The relationship between a grandfather and his granddaughter is explored very little in literature. There is not much written about it. “A Cool Dark Place” explores the harrowing relationship Zephyr has with her grandfather Don and how actions impact our past and future. There is like we said a lot happening in the book – a relationship with a loved one in the afterlife, memories stored in bags, and getting family ties altogether, give the book its brilliant shape and structure. Supriya Dravid doesn’t disappoint for sure, so much so that you cannot believe that this is a debut.

Her father's suicide brings a girl closer to her mother and her grandfather, revealing secrets about her family she is shocked to discover in A Cool, Dark Place, a contemporary debut novel by Supriya David.

Summary of the Book

Zef returns to Madras, her world rocked by two shocking discoveries. Her father, Gravy, has killed himself. The worst discovery comes when Zef sits down to speak with her distraught mother. The tapestry that is her family begins to unravel as her mother speaks to her of her past. Zef's grandfather Don, the colourful alcoholic that Supriya Dravid portrays him as, is the embodiment of fatherly love and protective obsession bottled in one tequila shot that she can't quite down without feeling the burn along her throat. Zef's story and the story of Don intertwine to form the rest of this narrative which explores the melancholy of truth and the joy of illusion.

About Supriya Dravid

Supriya Dravid is an Indian writer and journalist.

A graduate of the University of Auckland where she studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics, she has lived in many cities across India and the world. After a short stint at Cartoon Network, she began working in journalism. She currently works at India Today.