'The Magnificent Ruins': Between excess and emptiness

The Magnificent Ruins by Nayantara Roy is a sprawling exploration of one woman’s journey back to the house of her childhood. Lila De, a successful book editor based in Brooklyn, suddenly discovers that her grandfather has left her the old, somewhat crumbling but vast house in Kolkata. Her family, still living in that house, wants to know why it is hers. Lila decides to return to Kolkata. There, she encounters her difficult mother, an extremely complex grandmother, friendly cousins, and troubled, tortured aunts and uncles.

In Brooklyn, Lila has a life she is comfortable with. As an editor, she discovers promising authors and is also having an affair with one of the writers she is working with. Her family — her stepmother and half-siblings — are people she enjoys spending time with. She is handed a promotion.

Lila consistently ignores her mother’s calls from Kolkata; there is history there, and she has not had an easy time with her mother’s moods, tempers, and gaslighting. At times, she also ignores or cannot take calls from other relatives in India. When news of her grandfather’s passing reaches her — later than it should — Lila gets on a plane to Kolkata.

Right off the bat, Lila’s impressions of the city are coloured by dangers of her own imagining. She fears for her life as a woman in India. She fears the food because of dysentery, yet eats what her family cooks. The heat is intolerable. The house is crumbling because, Lila notes, the family does not have air conditioning. She immediately suggests improvements to the house and finds her ideas are not well-received. She pontificates on zamindari and caste systems, and on the colour of her own skin and the oppression of women.

Lila’s family is colourful — and at times unhinged. Her mother gaslights, grows petulant, created a scandal in the past by divorcing Lila’s father, and refuses to seek professional help. The younger cousins have lives of their own, with engagements, weddings, and YouTube channels. Lila’s work is not taken seriously, but her status as a single woman certainly is. She is often referred to as “the American”.

In Kolkata, Lila makes jumbled and peculiar observations about India’s political climate, often tinged with disdain. Much of her commentary resembles that of a foreigner reading about a country and judging it without real understanding. The politics in The Magnificent Ruins are cookie-cutter, predictable, and flat. There are identity crises, unlawful activities, nationalism, and cracks in administration — both local and national— with little sense of lived experience behind any of it.

The food is great, of course. Except when it causes indigestion.

Lila also begins an affair with a married crush from her college days. Then Seth, the author she was involved with in Brooklyn, shows up, complicating matters further. People are almost unusually kind to Lila, despite her lashing out at them. Her cousins are young and energetic, with distinct voices. Her uncle Hari stands out as a unique character. There is tragedy in the house — fractured marriages, domestic abuse, and resentment towards Lila, who wants to install an elevator. Through it all, Lila, to her credit, does try to find a sense of him in the land she grew up in.

The narration is slow-paced and, at times, tedious. There are long stretches of history, which, while useful, significantly slow the story. Lila’s examination of cultural norms and religious strife barely skims the surface and reveals little understanding of either. Her identity, torn between the US and India, is positioned as a central theme, but could have been explored with greater depth and poignancy. There are also far too many nicknames in the novel.

Overall, The Magnificent Ruins is an ambitious story with the makings of an intriguing and complex family saga. Better pacing, tighter editing, less random commentary, and a more nuanced exploration of Kolkata would have enhanced the readability of this work.