The Namesake is the story of a boy brought up Indian in America. When her grandmother learned of Ashimas pregnancy she was particularly thrilled at the prospect of naming the familys first sahib. & so Ashima & Ashoke have agreed to put off the decision of what to name the baby until a letter comes... For now the label on his hospital cot reads simply BABY BOY GANGULI. But as time passes & still no letter arrives from India American bureaucracy takes over & demands that baby boy Ganguli be given a name. In a panic his father decides to nickname him Gogol
- after his favourite writer. Brought up as an Indian in suburban America Gogol Ganguli soon finds himself itching to cast off his awkward name just as he longs to leave behind the inherited values of his Bengali parents. & so he sets off on his own path through life a path strewn with conflicting loyalties love & loss... Spanning three decades & crossing continents Jhumpa Lahiris much-anticipated first novel is a triumph of humane story-telling. Elegant subtle & moving The Namesake is for everyone who loved the clarity sympathy & grace of Lahiris Pulitzer Prize-winning debut story collection Interpreter of Maladies.