M G Vassanji

A lion on the loose; a barking cat; smoke, and a bridal veil. In an indeterminate future in Toronto, people can now live lives of two or three ‘generations’; when the time feels right, a person can transition into the next generation. Current personal history becomes irretrievable, replaced by an ideal life story of choice: a neatly concocted fiction which aids in constant rejuvenation. But one day, a strange-looking man—Presley Smith—arrives in the office of Dr Frank Sina one day, presenting symptoms of Leaked Memory Syndrome or Nostalgia; random scenes from a previous generation flash persistently through his mind. When the Department of Internal Security begins to take an interest in Presley’s case, he goes into hiding, and a public search ensues. Who exactly is Presley, and what does this mean for life as his fellow citizens know it? Dr Sina—rejuvenated in his second or third generation and feeling financially secure but sexually inadequate—struggles to solve this difficult case, even as he deals with his own life. And through it all there is the spectre of the Long Border, separating the rich North and the violence and famine of the failed states. Readers will enjoy this refreshing new turn for Vassanji, as one of the finest Indian writers in English takes us into exciting new territory.

Nostalgia

One of Canada's top novelists examines the life and work of another Canadian Great. Both Richler and Vassanji are award-winning novelists who regarded themselves as outsiders in their respective societies—one a Jew in Quebec, the other an Indian in Tanzania who emigrated to Canada. Their experiences were vastly different, but their perspective as outsiders allows each a unique viewpoint. With narrative flair and surprising insights, Vassanji explores the life and artistic quest of the prolific Montreal satirist who died in 2001.

Extraordinary Canadians: Mordecai Richler

Descendant of an African slave and a Gujarati trader, Kamal Punja grew up in the ancient town of Kilwa, on the coast of East Africa. Kamal, who never knew his father, is given away by his mother to better his prospects. Years later, after a flourishing career as a doctor in Canada, he returns in search of Saida, his childhood sweetheart. But where is Saida, and why are his efforts to find her being thwarted? Feverish, delirious, and perhaps delusional, Kamal is haunted by the past as he struggles to trace the woman he thinks he betrayed. Along the way, he must face the truth of his mixed lineage and be accountable for a chain of events he had unwittingly set off. Set in the vivid world where Africa, Arabia and India meet, where history, poetry and magic combine, The Magic of Saida is a haunting story of enduring love and lost childhood.

The Magic of Saida

Karsan Dargawalla has always known that he will succeed his father as guardian of a Sufi shrine and an earthly avatar of the thirteenth-century mystic, Pir Bawa—but all he desires is to be “ordinary,” and play first-class cricket. When he goes away to study in the United States, he discovers an exhilarating freedom and rejects his inheritance; his life experiences however ultimately draw him back to his spiritual heritage. He returns to India to find a communally torn Gujarat, a despoiled shrine, and a fugitive brother. With its grand historical sweep and intense personal drama, this superbly crafted novel tells a powerful story of one man’s struggle to balance life and faith.

M G Vassanji

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