Reviews

This evocative narrative straddles the emerging discipline of Indian Ocean studies and the popular genre of life writing. By turns restless, sardonic, lyrical, reflexive - and always quietly compassionate - Looking for Lakshmi is an engaging new contribution to diasporic writing. "Rajan Soni's gentle lyricism gives content to the abstractions of provenance and becoming. While we are all aware of the constitutive intersection of the roots and routes of identity, Looking for Lakshmi maps vividly the various journeys that ushered the author into being. Its portraits - of different times, contexts and people - transform cultural history into lived reality. As readers, we are blessed by Soni's invitation to travel with him." - Michael Titlestad, Professor of Literature, U. of the Witwatersrand.