I love a good ghost story and had been looking forward to reading this. I found it difficult to warm to the characters, but the idea was a good one.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A short story with three generations of women from the same family, their life and changes that occurred over the years or will happen.
Somlata is definitely my favourite as she wants to help her family and is looking forward to their future, overcoming her own inheritance and anxiety.
Boshon is the example of a nowadays carefree teenager that doesn't care for anything and anyone else but she and her behaviour is despicable at times.
Pishima is a widow that doesn't want to change her way of living or her inheritance.
It's definitely one of those stories that you want to read more about but at the same time, something else is missing

Got to be honest, this book reads more like a first draft than a finished book ready for publication. So many characters flit in and out of the story to no real purpose, and so much is left unexplained, it becomes quite baffling. The poisonous sister-in-law character who is struck dumb for most of the book is suddenly talking and acting perfectly charmingly in the final chapter – it left me flipping back and forth in the book, wondering whether I’d got the characters confused, or whether Boshon had simply inherited her mother’s mysterious ability to hear the sister-in-law’s voice in her head? And the ending is so abrupt – and faintly disturbing – that it left me wondering: a) had I been sent a download with the final chapter missing; b) was Boshon actually about to be assaulted at the end? Certainly some proofreading and editing needed. For example, is gokul pithe sweet or savoury? It’s referred to as both in quick succession.
One of the reasons for translating books is to make a culture accessible to people from outside it. Unfortunately, this book fails to deliver on that. Including words from the original language can give a greater flavour of the setting, but only if the reader can decode what they mean without having to put down the book and go off to research them. There are so many words through this book that may be names, or titles, or nicknames, or honorifics, or job titles, that it becomes a confusing mass. The aunt in question is called Pishi – or Pishima – or is she Rashomoyee? Or possibly something else as well, it’s easy to get lost. And that’s just one example. So many of the characters are referred to by multiple names, I just lost track.
Possibly a good read for someone more familiar with Bengali culture, but not very accessible to others.

The book started off really well, but about half way through I got a bit confused and I felt that the ending was a bit abrupt. The story itself was intriguing but I felt that some thing was missing.
Thank you netgalley

I was quite excited too read this book as the story started really well. But halfway through the story, got very confused. The story suddenly fell off a cliff. The ending was abrupt. I was wondering if I had downloaded only half of it. Quite disappointed especially since it was two promising.

This was an interesting and unusual read. Although I enjoyed it, I felt it ended quite abruptly and left me wanting more.

I'm not sure I understood this book. I don't know if it's because it was using cultural coding that I, as a British white girl, simply don't understand, or if the translation left out some nuance that would have helped. Or if there just isn't enough book to get the story across. The blurb makes it sound like a lot happens, but nothing is covered in much depth.

The premise being that a new wife is hounded by the aunt of her husband and even after the woman dies, she is haunted by her ghost. The ghost tells Somlata to hide her jewelry box, confuses Somlata, asks her about the sex she has with her husband, and curses her at most every turn and opportunity. The book is billed as 'funny' and I just didn't find it as such. And then we have two chapters from Boshon's perspective. It took me a while to realise this is Somlata's daughter but that might have just been me. Because I didn't realise, however, they just seemed completely out of place. Boshon is somewhat unlikeable and her actions are baffling. Some of that is explained later but her treatment of Amalesh-da is just weird.

I enjoyed Somlata's interactions with her husband, and the parts where she is setting up the shop and getting all her in-laws to work and turn a profit. Honestly a story more about that, and the raising of her daughter, would have been more interesting.

I think if the book wasn't trying to be a comedy, but a genuine and more thorough look at the interactions between these three women, I certainly would have found it more enjoyable. As it was, I was mostly confused the whole way through.

I really struggled with this novel and found it quite hard to understand because it jumped around so much. I found it hard to know who was who in the end and found it very frustrating so unfortunately I did not finish it. Thankyou to NetGalley for allowing me to review it.

I usually enjoy books set in India, especially those written by Indian authors. The initial chapters were quite intriguing, but then it failed to meet expectations. Then I'm afraid this book failed to satisfy. I'm not sure if this was due to the original writing, or a clumsy translation, but this story failed to flow. I found it difficult to get areal feel for the characters and the story seemed to have a very uneven flow

A slightly odd story and I am afraid i struggled all the way through. I actually read the closing chapter a second time, but it was still frustrating. Much of the story is fine - the strength of the young bride in turning her lazy husband to good use, but the rest of it - from the haunting to the unrequited love to the unclear ending - left me wondering what i had missed.

I struggled with this story and couldn't really get into this book and so I didn't finish it. Thanks for allowing me to review it.

This was an interesting and engaging read. I was greatly ontrigued by the title and the synopsis. This novel brings this Bengali family to life with colour and wit. The aunt of the title is cantankerous and difficult and leaves as much of a shadow on the family in death as in life. Young Somlata who has recently married into the Mitra family and after discovering her aunt-in-law's body (and her lingering spirit) has more to deal with than an average young Bengali family. Her aunt-in-law seems hellbent on making life difficult and full of hatred and spite for her surviving family. Yet in many ways her choosing to reveal herself to young Somlata seems the obvious choice as the young girl proves that she can more than hold her own in this chaotic family.

A short but fascinating story that was highly enjoyable and a wonderful snapshot into a culture very different my own.

What’s it About? A not-quite-dead Aunt, and some gold jewellery. What is going on in this book, I ask you.

What I liked: This is such a short, fast, fun read. Set in India pre-independence and following several generations of women in a family, I was just fascinated, by the culture that I know little about, by the story which was weird and wonderful, by the fact that sometimes I had no idea what was happening and yet couldn't stop reading, by the way it all tied back together in the end. I loved this because it's so different to what I usually read and because it was a window into a whole other world. Fabulous. I have no idea what it was about. I love that.

What I liked: Less I was a little bit confused sometimes, I won't lie. And I wished it was longer.

Rather a strange title for a book I thought so I read it
This is a short little book about a Bangladesh family and the young woman who marries into it
She is from a very poor background they are from old rich family, who really don't have any money and therefore the men sit around doing nothing
The new bride meets an old aunt who has a rich stash of jewellery she bequeaths it to the bride but tells her to make her new husband go to work
The new bride helps her new husband set up a shop which despite the family interfering in makes a success of
Lovely descriptive language make this short story a joy to read

Thoroughly enjoyed this short story. The story tells of family traditions and the loyalties held therein by our main character. Newly married and struggling to adjust we are treated to a humourous vein when she discovers a deceased relative - who then proceeds to haunt her for years to come.
Her battle to live her life right whilst facing pressures from all members of her extended family is truly entertaining.

What a quirky and fun book this is. It tells the story of Somlata, a newly married girl who finds herself in an unenviable position when the matriarch of her husband's family dies suddenly and then proceeds to haunt her. Firstly, I really enjoyed the vitriol spewed frequently by the aunt - she is a very angry and bitter ghost and her voice was very amusing. I also enjoyed the strength of our protagonist. She is intelligent and ambitious and navigates some very choppy familial waters with great aplomb. I wasn't a massive fan of the relationship dynamic between her and husband, but the other than that, I found this a really enjoyable read.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a short story that has been published ages ago but now has been translated into English for the first time. We follow Somlata as she marries into a wealthy family – though appearances are deceiving. The family has cared more about status than anything else, and has sold of land, jewellery and other belongings to make ends meet for years now. The idea of actually working for a living and pulling the family out of its current dire straits is unthinkable, at least until she persuades her husband to open a shop. Alongside this is the story of Pishima who was married at a very young age, and widowed a few years later. I am not that well-versed in Bengali culture but apparently this meant she could not only never marry again, but was in mourning for all of her life, unable to eat anything particularly extravagant, or go out to meet friends or just… really go and do anything at all besides spent time in her room obsessing over her gold. Very soon after the start of the story the aunt passes away, yet decides to hang around and haunt Somlata, tempting her to follow her desires, as well as call her names. A lot of names. This story was a short and quick read. It was alright but I think for most of the time I failed to grasp what the actual point of the story was? By the end I thought there would have been more, but it just ended.

I was sent a copy of The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay to read and review by NetGalley.
What a delightful short story this is! Its beautifully written, funny, insightful and altogether quite magical! Even though the book isn’t very long the author has managed to flesh out the characters and give the reader a real sense of time and place, giving us an insight into a very different culture – different from my experiences anyway! A real gem of a book that made me smile and left me wanting more!

An unusual book though one that seemed to finish too suddenly for me. The story is told from the point of view of a Bengali wife to a man whose family was wealthy but the wealth is dwindling. The last part of the book is told from the daughter’s point of view. It is about an Aunt who passes on and then comes back as a ghost. I loved the humour in the book though it’s pretty dark. The book could have done with a bit of a glossary though some of the terms are self-explanatory it does take some memory to remember what the narrator is referring to.

I would have given the book a higher score for originality but by the time I finished reading it I thought, is that it? I may well read again next year to see if I have any different opinion about the book.

Many thanks to Netgalley and John Murray Publishers for this book in return for an honest review. I would be interested in reading other books by this author and I had already recommended this book to my Mum in spite of the sudden finish.

A short but very well put together story about the lives of 3 generations of strong Bengali women. A 18 year old bride, her determined daughter and the hilarious ghost of a dead aunt. Not something I would normally choose to read but so glad I did. Once you place everyone it is easy to follow with an open but not disappointing ending. This is Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s debut novel and I will certainly be looking out for more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley and John Murray Press for letting me review.