Vandana Singh-Lal studied environment and forestry at the University of Oxford and also holds degrees in politics and economics. She worked in the forests of Madhya Pradesh documenting forest-protection practices, dabbled in filmmaking in Mumbai, anchored news for a television channel and assisted in writing and directing documentaries. She also worked with the World Bank and as a policy adviser to the New Zealand government. And while living and observing and trying to align the world inside her head with the 'real' world around her, she, in the words of DeLillo, grew into novelhood.
But sit down, breathe deep, and ask a woman. Any woman. They are there.
When twin sisters Layla and Tanya are found starving in their upmarket apartment, there is frenzy in the media. How often does one find two striking, twenty-something women, one half-dead, the other not speaking, living in a state of disrepair and chaos, for no apparent reason? Theories about them are rampant, but disillusioned journalist Raman is loath to follow the story. That is, until Tanya begins to talk to him, and the darker truth behind the sisters' lives starts to unravel.
A richly atmospheric, deeply claustrophobic story with a stunning denouement, of two women confronting the everyday realities of their city and country, So all is Peace provides an unflinching insight into love, lust, fear, grief, and the decisions we make, through a cast of sharply drawn characters brought together by an unspoken wrong.
Powerfully imagined, compellingly written and deeply thought-provoking,
So All is Peace is a magnificently realized tale of twin women fighting for their place in an unfeeling society. The story packs a considerable punch: it is both intelligent and emotional, cerebral and tender. An astonishing debut.A dark romp through unspeakable emotions and actions, a painful biopsy of sibling ties, of twins and their myriad links, this is a provocative debut by a novelist to remember. . . A novel to savour and share, even as you find yourself flinching at the inanities and cruelties of contemporary India.
