Buddha's Orphans - Samrat Upadhyay

Buddha's Orphans was a very nice read. The book is about a lower class Nepali woman who finds a baby in a town market and cares for him until a richer family comes along and pulls some strings to adopt him because the mother is crazy and needs a son. A few reasons why this book is interesting: How many people in the west are familiar with Nepal? Not too many. This story was also a multi generational look at the consequences of people's actions, which I find interesting. It also took a look at the impact of an even in a family (in this case the orphan's mother's suicide) impacts generations at a time. The book was familiar in a way that neighboring cultures are. It seems familiar but a few things are definitely different. One more interesting thing to note: For a country so close to the heart of pessimism in writing, the author of this book is notably absent of the pathos that rules Indian writing. The themes in this book are not easy ones, but are approached with a very Zen Buddha philosophy. 

Verdict: Read it. Even if you don't care about learning about Nepal, there's still plenty to be taken from this book and contemplated on.