The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

A beautifully written and very disturbing novel that takes place in India in the mid-1980's amidst terrorist violence. The novel is pre 9/11 but "feels" very much like a post 9/11 novel.
There are four major characters: Sai, the judge, the cook and his son. Sai is the granddaughter of the judge and the cook is the judge's cook. Biju, the cook's son, manages to get to America to find the "charmed life," only to find it alienating, difficult and degrading.
Injustice is a major theme of the novel and we are exposed, again and again, on how the west exploited the east and how even within India, people exploit each other in so many ways every day.
This was a powerful book; at times, it was lyrical and "light" and at other times, dark and quite disturbing. Her writing is really incredible. Not an easy read, but an enlightening tale of lives and settings that are unfamiliar to me.