'The Parted Earth' review: Partition builds a wall among generations

When an entire society experiences upheaval and loss on an unprecedented scale, what are the ways this loss shows up in individual relationships, in families, and communities throughout generations? This is the central question driving Anjali Enjeti's luminous debut novel, "The Parted Earth," and it is as complicated as it is revelatory.

Told in sections from 1947, 1996 and 2017 from various perspectives and taking place in India, the United States and Europe, "The Parted Earth" is many things, but it is first and foremost a fictional examination of the price of Partition.

There's also the sweet story of a doomed love between 16-year-old Deepa, who is Hindu, and Amir, a Muslim. Through them we see the unmitigated tragedy of Partition unfold: Affection across religious lines is seen as threatening to the new social order.

After suffering more deep losses from the spiraling violence, Deepa escapes India for Europe, where she settles with her godparents, and raises her and Amir's son, Vijay. But she never tells Vijay anything about his absent father despite his ongoing questions, partly because she doesn't know what happened to him and partly because she cannot bear it. In this way, Vijay becomes obsessed with finding his father and travels back to India to search for him and reconnect with his cultural roots.

Years later, Vijay's 11-year-old daughter Shanti, half-Indian, half-white, keenly feels the absence of her father after her parents divorce, her father leaves, and her white mother raises her in Seattle alone.

Through Enjeti's compelling and deeply believable characterizations, we come to see that Shanti as an adult is as lost a soul as Deepa, although in a completely different way.

No matter how many books you may read this year, none are likely to affect you as deeply as "The Parted Earth." For its emotional honesty and insights, for its elegant craftsmanship, and for braiding all of this through a cultural history most of us know nothing about, this is a novel with the gravitas to transform. Don't miss it.