โSet in 1970s Bombay, the novel explores art, ambition, gender roles and class with the same shimmering prose of Swamyโs first book, the story collection A House Is a Body.โ
โSan Francisco Chronicle
โ[A] sublime, boundary-pushing exploration of sexuality, creativity, and love.โ
โNPR
ย
In this transfixing novel, a young womanย comes of age in 1960s- and 1970s-eraย Bombay, a vanished world that is complex and indeliblyย rendered. Vidyaโs childhood is marked byย the shattering absence and then the bewilderingย reappearance of her mother and baby brother at theย family home. Restless, observant, and longingย for connection with her brilliant and increasinglyย troubled mother, Vidya navigates the stifling expectationsย of her life with a vivid imagination untilย one day she peeks into a classroom where girlsย are learning kathak, a dazzling, centuries-oldย dance form that requires the utmost disciplineย and focus. Her pursuit of artistic transcendenceย through kathak soon becomes the organizingย principle of her life, even as she leaves home forย college and falls in complicated love with her bestย friend. As the uncertain future looms, she mustย ultimately confront the tensions between romanticย love, her art, and the legacy of her own imperfectย mother.
Lyrical and deeply sensual, with writing asย mesmerizing as kathak itself, Shruti Swamyโsย The Archer is a bold portrait of a singular womanย coming of age as an artistโnavigating desire,ย duty, and the limits of the body. It is also an electrifyingย and utterly immersive story about theย transformative power of art, and the possibilitiesย that love can open when weโre ready.