Detective stories are rather favourites with the average reader, especially if the sleuth is an interesting character with lots of colour to his personality. Long-lasting mystery fiction genre is often propelled by a favourite detective; think Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Perry Mason (he is more of a lawyer than detective I admit), and Sherlock Holmes. Nearer home we have Feluda from Ray’s pen and now Madhulika Liddle has introduced us to another desi detective who is ready to go down into history, Muzaffar Jung.

Muzaffar is an old hand actually; he has already solved crimes for us in Liddle’s debut novel The Englishman’s Cameo. In ‘The Eighth Guest and Other Muzaffar Jung Mysteries’, the sleuth reappears to solve ten new mysteries. So what’s new? Aren’t there other mystery stories in place, you may ask? The difference here is the background. All the incidents take place in Mughal Dilli, in the time of Emperor Shajahan in the 1600s. In fact the town where all this happens is called Shajahanabad, and is a minutely detailed sketch that shows the writer’s skill. The romance and mood of the era are sustained nicely without going overboard on nostalgia.

Liddle has succeeded in recreating the ambience of what could be a Mughal city and merges the picture with the ‘feel’ of Old Delhi. This background creation has come up a winner. One is reminded of how Agatha Christie recreated the English country side with her simple and effective imagery, and Ray’s Kolkota word pictures. Certainly a symbol of a masterful pen and Muzaffar is a young guy with quite a lot of resources, both material and intellectual, which he puts to good use in solving murders and thefts. His sister, brother-in-law and two friends, a boatman and a dandy, appear often to push the story. Muzaffar is also slightly different from what is our perception of a nobleman of the times, he mingles with all and sundry. Perhaps this removes the need for a side-kick or Jeeves character that would in the normal course do all the ‘dirty work’. There is also a lot of subtle social commentary, especially in comparing classes of people.

The stories, ten of them, are interesting in various degrees. One meets a myriad range of characters from Ranis to dancing girls and fakirs to court painters. The stories revolve around these finely etched pictures and pose a good relaxing read. I guess Liddle can safely think of a series on Jung, she is sure to get a lot of followers.

Universal Theme, Pacy Read
Long-listed for the 2011 Orange Prize, ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ is a Nigerian tale of a polygamous and rich business man and his four wives. The book holds the reader’s attention for one good reason. In narrating the dynamics of Baba Segi’s multi-layered family politics, Lola Shoneyin has a universal account of personal secrets, individual compromises, and human interactions in place. 

I am not too sure this is a glimpse into the real contemporary Nigerian society, but the strife between two extremes of what we call culture finds a rare resonance in ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’. There is a contrast between the good and the bad and the grey shades too pop up; the illiterate, uncouth and ill-mannered are shown up against the educated and sophisticated. The story moves forward with points of view put forward by each of the major characters, like Baba Segi, his four wives and his driver. Each of the protagonists has been etched with a sharp pen. Baba Segi is a typical rich man, but not unkind, and with his own private demons to conquer. So are each of the other characters, and the opening scene sees Baba Segi worried that his fourth wife, a graduate unlike his illiterate first wives, is barren.

Quite a lot of back story goes into the narration and we get to know the pasts of the protagonists which mould their present selves and thoughts. The pace never slackens for a moment, and the reader waits impatiently for the Big Secret to be revealed. The writer has a marvelous way of making us listen to her stories, and there are interesting glimpses of the native language flavour peeping through in the text, where metaphors and proverbs are used. The book is a marvelous example of successful non-native writing in English. There is a lot of humour, and emotions run deep.

One is constantly reminded that this is no folk tale, but a slice out of the life of a modern human being, and in a part of the globe that isn’t exposed to too much sophistication. I was also struck by the other universal thread running through the book, the plight of the woman. These are real women, and their issues are real, and the jealousy, cunning, kindness and compromises are only tools of survival. There is rape, abortion, and fight over a man and rejection, handled at various levels and in many layers. I only wondered if the one chapter of narration in the point of view of Baba Segi’s driver, sprinkled with a lot of adult imagery, really added any value to the narration.

Otherwise, a good read.

by Suneetha Balakrishnan