The Last Song of Dusk by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi is a novel that drifts seamlessly between the realms of reality and magic, love and sorrow, art and despair. It transcends traditional narrative boundaries, blending realism with dream and allegory as it attempts to portray both the grandeur and the tragedy of the human condition. Set in 1920s India, primarily in Bombay and Udaipur, it follows the lives and loves of three central characters, Anuradha, Vardhman and Nandini. With its lyrical prose and aura of melancholy, the richly textured narrative explores the intermingled fates of these characters and the fragility and unpredictability of life.
January 2025, volume 49, No 1