Mama Tandoori - Softcover

Van Der Kwast, Ernest

Softcover

ISBN 10: 194753453X ISBN 13: 9781947534537

Publisher: Scribe US, 2019

Synopsis

“The funniest and most moving book I have read this year.”
–Herman Koch

A big-hearted, hilarious family saga, featuring an overbearing yet loving Indian mother, a strait-laced Dutch father, an uncle who is a Bollywood star, and a talented heptathlete.

‘It wasn’t uncommon in my childhood for roti to be off the menu, because the rolling pin was broken again.’

Ernest van der Kwast’s childhood is peopled by an array of colourful characters: from his strait-laced Dutch father, to Bollywood star Uncle Sharma, to talented heptathlete Aunt Jasleen.

But it is his overbearing yet loving Indian mother who is at the beating heart of this big-hearted, hilarious family saga. Veena van der Kwast is a woman with an iron will, hilarious directness, and a talent for haggling. Armed with her trusty rolling pin, every man she meets is eventually beaten to submission ― especially her husband and three sons.

Intriguing, surprising, and moving in equal measure, this novel inspired by a very unusual family will make you smile from beginning to end.

About this title

About the Author:

Ernest van der Kwast is a Dutch author born in Mumbai, India, in 1981. He made his debut in 2005 with the novel Sometimes Things Are Better When People Applaud. His breakthrough book is Mama Tandoori, which became a bestseller in the Netherlands and Italy upon publication, and has to date sold more than 100,000 copies. He lives in Rotterdam.

Laura Vroomen was born in the Netherlands and now lives and works in London. She was educated at the University of Amsterdam and Warwick University, and spent several years teaching English literature and cultural studies before switching to translation.

Review:

“Mama Tandoori is a poignant, witty, and heart-rending book. There’s never a dull moment.”
―Kristien Hemmerechts

“I’m so pleased my mother was just a cashier at the local supermarket. Good book – a really good book.”
―Kluun

“A great comic writer.”
―NRC Handelsblad

“Ernest van der Kwast is a great talent.”
―Het Financieele Dagblad

“A hilarious portrait of a Dutch-Indian family.”
―Elsevier

“Ernest’s writing style is deceptively simple. Beneath his romanticised account are deep wells of sorrow. It’s quite an achievement that he can make us laugh out loud at such meanness!”
―Hugo Borst

“It must be dead-tiring to grow up in such a family and a real pleasure to be in a position–years later and a father by now–to write it all down. That’s to say if, like this writer, you’re talented enough to turn all the humour into tragedy and make all the tragedy immensely funny.”
―Sweekly.nl

“A hilarious and moving novel about a mother who’s armed with a rolling pin and who lives by the crisis-proof motto “free is good”.”
―HP/De Tijd

“Ernest van der Kwast has written an unusual book about unusual people. And most remarkable of all: he does it unusually well.”
―De Telegraaf

“Hilarious descriptions [...] But Van der Kwast offers plenty of nuance, too. He doesn’t stop at the clownish figure. Beneath that skin of humour he has inserted ribs and lungs, muscles and a heart. [...] Comic becomes tragicomic. Even the detours contain the same exhilarating mix of exuberant humour and tragedy imbued with plenty of compassion.”
HUMO

“A great humourist, with a perfect sense of timing [...] A very funny book.”
―De Standaard

“Very witty and well-balanced.”
―de Volkskrant

“The inventive writing style, dry sense of humour, and poignant observations of the writer’s many wondrous family members make this book a real pleasure to read [...] a fine mix of satire and compassion [...] A proper page-turner.”
―GPD-bladen

“Let’s hope there will be more books like this.”
―TZUM

“The funniest and most moving book I have read this year. Whoever was wondering where the Dutch Salman Rushdie, or even the Dutch Aravind Adiga, was hiding, is given the answer with Mama Tandoori.”
―Herman Koch, author of The Dinner

“A series of amusing set pieces, tinged with the kind of poignancy that comes from finding the humour in incidents that must have hurt deeply at the time.”
―Sunday Herald

“An unusual and well-written book.”
–Nudge

“[A] explosively funny, irresistible, and profoundly tragic human comedy ... the novel fluidly and daringly counterbalances talent and pain, splendid form and essential meaning in a new, fragrant and spicy blend poignantly evocative of Dutch India or the Indian Netherlands.”
―Mika Provata-Carlone, Bookanista

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribe US
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 194753453X
• ISBN 13: 9781947534537
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224