I’m not quite sure what I expected when I requested this novel on NetGalley, but I’d hoped to be enveloped in Hindu culture. The very first section offers that, but at the same time, it seemed to me the weakest part of what is a complicated, thoughtful novel that touches on the bigger parts of love and loss. I didn’t immediately connect with Karom, and I found Gita annoying. Gita’s grandmother Kamini won me over when she took center stage, a beautiful mix of tradition, self-sufficiency and determination. She kept me reading long enough to see the different sides of Karom and Gita, long enough to meet the mass of confusion called Lloyd and to accept the way their minds played tricks to blend the past with the present and introduce avatars to help them through some of the tougher questions.

This is not a quick read. It’s not a light, breezy novel.

Where Earth Meets Water is populated with complex characters who have either faced great tragedy or bound themselves to those who have. Karom is finding his way back from losing both his whole family and his sense of self in what he discovers among his parents’ belongings. Gita has found her solid ground in Karom but only if he can give off tempting death from a combination of survivor’s guilt and PTSD. Lloyd’s an oddity in this group because love, not disaster, is his burden, and one he needs to wash away before he can start his full life. Kamini, though, she is the wise old woman and yet she’s neither as wise as they think her nor as simple.

These are the kinds of characters who linger, the ones who will pop to the fore when something happens that reminds a person about them. Their struggles are both fantastic in the sense of being involved in the extremes while also having analogs in the lives of ordinary people. They go to college, worry about appearances, struggle with the dual reaction panhandlers often provoke, and miss plans because of late trains. They’re real, concrete people that provide both a glimpse into another culture and a mirror of the more general Western sensibilities.

Amusing because of the strong college connection in the book, but this story reminds me of The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor which I read in my college years. The two books are both interwoven short stories each focused on a moment in a character’s life. Though Naylor’s tales rotate around a specific street, Karom is both the center stage and the linchpin connecting all the different characters in Padukone’s book. Again, you get a deep look into how people interact, how they support and nurture each other. Padukone takes us into their minds, hopes, dreams, and fears. We explore both Karom’s state and how it impacts those around him, especially Gita, while addressing questions more universal than they might seem at first glance.

It’s a powerful novel asking the big questions and pointing to the interconnectivity of events on a global scale. At the same time, there’s an underlying question of fate, chance, and coincidence. Is it destiny or luck that governs the simple decisions which turn out to be life changing? The style is more literary than I expected, the writing more lyrical, but each piece, each glimpse into a life, and how that glimpse is conveyed, winds together to form a compelling whole.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.