The Radiance of Ashes  (English, Paperback, Mistry Cyrus)

This fiction is a tale of a young man from a Parsi family background who ends up in the city slums of Bombay, the city that offers him the amnesia of escape. His nostalgia meets his present and the protagonist is yet to realize what he wants from life before he runs out of time.

Summary of the book

Jahangir (Jingo) Moos is an unclear, yet an intriguing character. aspires to become a writer one day, although he is a part-time market researcher. He lives off his parents until he has to go on a hiding-out after a brief encounter with a policeman’s bullying. Jingo finds himself witnessing the lives of the slum dwellers as he becomes one himself by taking refuge there. His journey becomes directionless, with such thoughts that he’s good-for-nothing, inflicted by his father and his Catholic ex-girlfriend Christina. The story also unfolds few historical references that peek in between the fictional incidents and is compelling, as it brings out many colours of individual and a societal life.

About Cyrus Mistry

Cyrus Mistry was born in India. He began writing as a playwright from a young age. Mistry has worked as a journalist and has also been a short-story writer. His novel Chronicle of a Corpse-Bearer won him the 2014 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.