Growing up in a middle class Hindu family in Mauritius in the years surrounding its independence, Vishnu grew up in a vibrant mixed neighborhood. His father is a respected teacher and his mother cares for the household. Vishnu grows up watching how the various groups on Mauritius interact, working hard to excel at school, so he can get a scholarship to study in England, something that will make his family and his entire neighborhood proud. Along the way, he watches as things happen in his extended family and around him on the island. Will his hard work pay off and see him leaving his home?

Vinod Busjeet has written a novel that feels like a collection of connected short stories that tell the coming-of-age story of a boy whose life looks similar to his own. It's beautifully told and gives a real sense of what life on Mauritius in the second half of the last century was like. Vishnu doesn't always understand the complexities of what is going on around him, but he is a keen and curious observer and willing to learn and adapt to his changing circumstances. ( )

The history behind Silent Winds, Dry Seas by Vinod Busjeet is not one I am familiar with. In fact, it is the history that leads me to the book. That, and a debut author. Unfortunately, I struggle with the story itself and find it challenging to engage with the characters. At most times, it feels as if the message of the book is just beyond my grasp, just out of reach. Unfortunately, I walk away unsatisfied and not the reader for this book.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2022/12/silent-winds-dry-seas.html

Reviewed for NetGalley. ( )

This is the first book I’ve read that takes place in Mauritius. It’s a coming of age story of Vishnu who is the scholarly type. The book is imbued with Mauritius history and addresses the never ending problems of religion, race and politics.

I believe the book is somewhat autobiographical but don’t know for sure.

In the last section Vishnu makes it to America and we see the 70’s U tied States through his eyes. ( )

The author born in Mauritius, the small island nation in the Indian ocean, who went away for school and stayed out of the country. Busjeet's debut novel introduces us to Vishnu Bhushan, a man who was born on the island but emigrated and is now returning for the first time in decades. As the novel progresses, you start seeing the parallels between Vishnu's life and the life of the author and you cannot stop wondering just how much of the novel is fiction and how much is fictionalized real history.

The story is a big series of flashbacks - there are elements from the here and now but it is the story of Vishnu (and by extension of Mauritius). And somewhere in that personal story are mixed details of the island's colonial past (everyone owned the island at one point or another) and its current multi-ethnic reality - there is no indigenous population when someone in the Arab merchants/travelers first found the island; everyone was shuffled in via the progression of colonials and then all the populations mixed... or most of them anyway. And that's where Mauritius is different - the main part of the population is Indian, having arrived here as indentured servants and then making their live on the island. But there are also the Chinese, the French and the Creole - and all kinds of mixes making the questions of race and language even more messed up than usual - causing all kinds of weird issues occasionally.

Vishnu is privileged (to the point that when he needs work in the States, he refuses to work in a kitchen because this is not what men do - seeing how he reevaluates these ideas makes the later part of the novel quite entertaining) but not really part of the elite. Which causes most of his issues - he seems to occasionally be in that middle ground where he believes he deserves everything but others don't think so. And that seems to be the story of Mauritius in a nutshell.

The writing is overly lyrical in places, with poems showing up as chapters here and there (short ones and they can be skipped although they are the ones that will make you laugh in this novel). And yet, somehow, it works as a whole. The narrator is relatable even when he is arrogant and the glimpse into the history of an island and nation is always fascinating. ( )