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BBC BLURB: ndira Varma reads Jhumpa Lahiri's Man Booker-listed new novel, The Lowland, spanning India and America, and exploring the price of idealism and the enduring power of love.

It is the 1960s, and violent revolution has come to India and America. Two brothers, Subhash and Udayan, born in Calcutta just fifteen months apart, have been inseparable since birth, but their paths are diverging. Udayan - charismatic and impulsive - finds himself drawn to the Communist movement sweeping Bengal. He will risk all for what he believes. But Subhash, the dutiful son, doesn't share his brother's political passion, and leaves home to pursue a life of scientific research in a quiet corner of America. But when Subhash learns what happened to his brother in the lowland outside their family's home, he returns to India, hoping to pick up the pieces of a shattered family, and to heal the wounds Udayan left behind.

Jhumpa Lahiri shot to fame with her Pulitzer-winning story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, followed by novel The Namesake and another collection, Unaccustomed Earth. The Lowland is her latest work, and has been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

Reader: Indira Varma is an acclaimed stage, film and television actor. Her recent TV credits include: Rome, Luther and What Remains. Abridger: Sally Marmion Producer: Justine Willett.

1. It is the 1960s, and revolution is in the air. Brothers Subhash and Udayan have been inseparable since birth, but their paths are diverging.

2. As Subhash tries to make a new life in the US, a letter from his rebellious brother still has the power to shock.

3. As Subhash finally starts to make a life in America, tragic news arrives from Calcutta.

4. As Subhash learns of his brother's death, he becomes further troubled by the life now open to Udayan's widow Gauri.

5. Subhash hopes that the arrival of Gauri's baby will bring them together. But might his mother's prediction come true?

6. A trip to Calcutta threatens to unearth deeply-buried family secrets.

7. Subhash and Bela return from Calcutta, to shocking news.

8. Bela returns home with shocking news, and Subhash musters the courage to tell her what she deserves to know.

9. Gauri is forced to confront her past after an unexpected letter from Subhash.

10. After decades apart, mother and daughter finally meet.



From wiki: The term 'Naxal' derives from the name of the village Naxalbari in West Bengal, where the movement had its origin. The Naxals are considered far-left radical communists, supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Their origin can be traced to the split in 1967 of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), leading to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist).

Meh - little interest in this story, although I did have fun looking up Naxal anmd its roots in Maoist China.