A Person is A Prayer

“It turned out that death, like much of life, was just a matter of waiting.”
The book spans across generations of the same family, immigrated from Kenya and India to Britain. It deals with identity, loss and grief but also hopes and dreams.

To me the family members seem distant from each other and it’s only upon a death in the family following a ritual of scattering the ashes back in India that each member reflect on their lives and relationships.
What does it mean to have roots? Where do they belong and what place can they call home?

A Person is A Prayer voices several viewpoints and this works only to a certain extent as I struggled to connect with them individually. It does have beautiful prose and lovely introspective glimmers of what it means to be connected in life and in this world.
It deals delicately with the experience of being a first, second and third generation immigrant in the UK - the integration on one hand, the expectations of your parents to stay true to your roots on the other.
It does feel heavy on the side of not wanting to be a disappointment, a very sad burden.
Ammar Kalia paints a vivid picture of each scene with food and smells and does not shy away from stark realities.

This book is a quiet ode to family, the conversations you wish you’d had, how to live the time you have left and the hope for the next generation.
A Person is a Prayer is a literary promising debut.

3.5/5 stars
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An advance copy was made available to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

Really loved the first half of the book and the narration was crisp and clear and engaging. I struggled with the second half of the book but I think that was completely purposeful as the characters struggle with their identities. I love a good cross-generational story and this was wonderfully crafted! Great debut!

A beautiful debut, but there were times when I skimmed through it rather than engaging as much as I would have liked to, perhaps more of a me issue than an issue with the writing in the book - an enjoyable read overall.

This one was a difficult one to review. there were moments where I loved the narrative and was fully immersed in the prose of the characters as their stories unfurled. Then there were other sections that I skimmed as it felt too wordy. Each character had such a rich inner world to their lives and to see those all overlayed with their family members does make you realise how complex family units are.
I wish that there had been more about the parents relationship after they got married. There were things we were told (I don't want to spoil anything) that we didn't see for ourselves, and I think that would have made for a richer story.
It is an enjoyable book, and one set in a culture that I know very little about, but it left me a little unsatisfied. Thank you to Netgalley and Oldcastle Books for the ARC

I absolutely loved the first half of this book. I thought I found a new favourite. Stellar writing and character development.
Second half was okay, it faltered in comparison. Overall, I think it's a really really good book that somewhere fell short of my expectations, but that's on me for having crazy high expectations!

A strong debut focusing on migration and intergenerational family drama.

Beautifully written but just lacking that certain something. perhaps it’s just due to the authors inexperience. But a solid start.

3.75 stars

netgalley arc

i enjoyed this exploration of family ties and finding happiness. set across a few time lines and multiple perspectives, i thought a person is a prayer captured the essence of family really nicely while also exploring cultural identity and how both of these things relate to the pursuit of happiness across generations.
the retelling the same event through multiple perspectives was really nicely done and was probably my favourite aspect of the book. Kalia managed to capture the different voices really well, while also writing so descriptively that the story really transported me from Hounslow to India and back again.
The only thing I wish was that there had been more focus on Sushma and Bedi’s marriage as although this is the foundation of the whole story, it wasn’t explored deeply, despite the first section of the book really getting me invested in their future together.

A promising first novel on family and migration. The prose is solid, but it never quite reaches the heights of the title. A must-read for everyone who like literary fiction that follows multiple generations of the same family. Beautiful writing and topics.

An encouraging debut about family and migration. The prose are solid but never quite reach the heights of its beautiful title.

A must-read for anyone who loves literary fiction exploring various generations of the same family. Gorgeous writing and themes.

Thank you NetGalley and Oldcastle Publishers for a ARC of this title. I really enjoyed it:
This book was a lyrical, moving journey. I hadn’t really any expectations for this book before reading it, and I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the author’s writing style, shorter paragraphs and alternative POV’s. The book itself was an ideal length - although my only criticism is that it could have been longer (and slightly more developed towards the end).

We follow the Bedi family through different POVs, as the head of the family seeks happiness through finding a wife and starting a family. But does happiness ever really come? This story reminds you that life isn’t a fairytale and there aren’t always happy endings. It’s a very human experience. The story follows the family’s journey from Kenya to England to India. The description of India and the Ganges was amazing and so immersive - I felt like I was really there with them. I loved each character’s complexity but I do think these areas could have been explored more, or at least addressed and finished off in the ending of the book (Rohan’s shenanigans and Tara’s health).
Overall this was a lovely book that took me on an international journey. I enjoyed it and would recommend. I would also read the author’s other material based on this book.

4.5 stars rating - would be a 5 if the ending tied up the things mentioned above.