BOOK #100!

I met my goal for the year! I finished 100 books in 2010. This last one has taken me a lot longer than normal but I finished it last night.

"Haunting Bombay" by Shilpa Agarwal.

Thirteen-year-old Pinky Mittal lives with her obese, matriarchal grandmother, Maji; her alcoholic uncle, Jaginder; bitter aunt Savita; and three teenage male cousins. Taken in as an infant by her grandmother after her mother died, Pinky knows she's Maji's favorite, even if her aunt despises her. Driven by adolescent curiosity, Pinky unlocks a door in her family bungalow that has been bolted her entire life and unleashes the ghost of an infant girl and her midwife, sending her whole family into a tailspin. Surrounded by superstitions and spirituality, Pinky tries to unravel a past rife with pain and deceit as three generations of her formerly stalwart family crumble around her.

The fact that it took me longer to read is not a critique of this book. It is a well- written and engrossing tale of a family in 1960s India who are haunted by a tiny - but revengeful - ghost. But maybe worse than the ghost is the lies, lost love and other secrets inside their bungalow. The author subtly and expertly weaves in information that will be needed further along in the story. The ending was very satisfying while not completely shocking.

Up next is "The Doctor's Wife" by Elizabeth Brundage.