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Alison Mukherjee was born in Britain and has lived and
worked in India. She obtained a Masters in Theology from
Serampore College, West Bengal, and recently completed a
Ph.D at the Mission Studies department of Birmingham
University. She has taught Religious Studies in schools
and colleges, and is currently employed as a qualified
social worker. She is married and has three grown up
children. Nirmal Babu's Bride is her first novel.
Nirmal Babu's Bride
A young woman returns home, briefly, determined to
understand why her family has been torn apart, why she
had to grow up alone with her mother while her father
and siblings were separated by a culture and a
continent, why they are all unwilling to acknowledge the
hurt-shaped holes in their lives. She returns to
discover the gentle love that they continue to cherish
for each other and to be pleasantly surprised that even
after so many years each of them is prepared to open the
door a little and let the feelings flow in.
Set in contemporary Bengal against the backdrop of
communal tension, Alison Mukherjee's debut novel
sketches a story that deals with relationships, religion
and life – the sutures that develop, the rifts that
widen, the wounds that heal.
Nirmal Babu's Bride is a riveting read – the author, an
extraordinary storyteller.
Bengali Christians, social work in England, Bible
translation, Christian insecurity as the BJP take power
– these are just some of the elements woven together by
Alison Mukherjee with first-hand knowledge and
consummate skill. Absorbing, mysterious and heartfelt,
her novel takes its readers into new realms.
It will leave them subtly changed.
– William Radice
Nirmal Babu's Bride is a delight to read: Rupa's quest
to solve the mystery that keeps her father and mother on
separate continents held my attention from beginning to
end. And my imagination was captivated by the keenly
observed detail of Bengali life.
The particular predicament of South Asian Christians has
been too long ignored by novelists. Alison Mukherjee's
novel illuminates with sensitive integrity those
powerful themes of identity, religion, generation and
gender Mukherjee writes with authority and compassion
and deserves a wide readership.
I hope that another novel will not be long in following
Nirmal Babu's Bride.
– Eleanor Nesbitt |
