Book Club: Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai

An open book lying on a blue surface with a pile of books behind it.

Booking information

To join the Book Club, please subscribe to the mailing list (which uses JISC-mail) using the link below. You can also join the Book Club on Microsoft Teams.

Join the Book Club mailing list

Join Book Club on Microsoft Teams

Once you have signed up to the mailing list you will receive email confirmation of your subscription with further information. From then on you will receive all emails sent to the group, including dates of future meetings, book choices and login details if you wish to join via Teams. Please join the mailing list at least 48 hours prior to the meeting date to make sure you receive the login details in time.

Contact information

Sharon Reid
library@lboro.ac.uk
Back to all events
Discussion

Join staff from Pilkington Library as the University Book Club marks South Asian Heritage Month with a discussion of Anita Desai’s intricate family drama.

About the book

Plain, umarriageable Uma has failed to outgrow her childhood home, with its bittersweet treats of puri-alu and barfi. Overprotected and starved for a life, she is smothered by her overbearing parents, successful sister Aruna, and Arun, the family’s disappointment of a son.

Across the world in Massachusetts, where Arun has gone as a student, family life in an American suburb is bewilderingly different. The Pattons, who he lives with, appear strange and terrible. The women don’t appear to cook at all, though they stuff their shopping carts; the men barbecue huge chunks of meat; their daughter binges on innumerable candy bars. Increasingly, Mrs Patton is desperate to be a vegetarian, like Arun. But what Arun wants most is to be invisible.

Moving from a traditional India household to an American one, Fasting, Feasting is a powerful exploration of hunger and plenty; and one of Anita Desai’s most socially acute novels.

Access to the book

The Library has a subscription to Libby, the leisure reading app widely used by public libraries. Libby enables the Library to support the wellbeing of all its users by providing access to leisure reading, wellbeing, and audiobook titles. Content includes ebooks, emagazines, and much more. To get started, simply download the Libby app and sign in. The app can be downloaded from the app store, or from a link on the Libby homepage. 

Through Libby, the Library has purchased an ebook of 'Fasting, Feasting', though, unfortunately due to licencing restrictions, it is one user at a time only.

Accessibility

There is step-free access into the Library and lift access to Level 3.

View the Access Guide for Pilkinton Library on AccessAble

About Book Club

The University Book Club is run by staff from Pilkington Library and is open to all current and former students and staff of Loughborough University. It meets in person in the Library but the meetings can also be accessed remotely via Teams. See the details under 'Booking information' to the left for instructions on how to join the Book Club.