The Dream Builders

Contents
 
 
 Cover
 Title
 Contents
 Summer 2018
 
 Maneka
 Ramona
 Pinky
 Samiran
 Chaya
 Jessica
 Ashok
 Rajesh
 Gopal
 Salil
 Hrishipur
 Maneka
 
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 Reader’s Guide
 Copyright
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Title
 Contents
 
 
 
 Page List
 
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 “Oindrila Mukherjee’s The Dream Builders is such an impressive feat of storytelling, a novel that examines the constraints of class, of gender, of history, while showcasing the sheer expansiveness of the endeavor, skillfully shifting the point of view amongst a group of characters who each demand a claim on the story. It’s a marvel of a structure, built by a great talent.”
 —KEVIN WILSON, bestselling author of Nothing to See Here
 “The Dream Builders is a novel of epic proportions that follows Maneka Roy and those around her as they each ponder the power of forgiveness and learn none of them can wield that power without first forgiving the self. Oindrila Mukherjee allows full life for these characters who are often real enough to remind us of ourselves, even as they betray one another . . . even as they betray themselves. This is a lovely debut.”
 —JERICHO BROWN,Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Tradition
 “Mukherjee has written a funny, moving, and often deliciously cynical novel about the illusive ideal we sometimes call the New India. Written from almost every angle imaginable, the novel demonstrates how each of us might be a hero in our own narratives while being the potential villain in someone else’s.”
 —TIPHANIE YANIQUE,author of Monster in the Middle
 “A multitude of voices and visions—arresting, wrenching, desiring—come together to create an astonishing, and astonishingly accurate, portrait of contemporary India. Oindrila Mukherjee has done a superb job.”
 —CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI,bestselling author of The Mistress of Spices
 “The Dream Builders showcases a vibrant cast of characters whose complex lives are a testament to India’s astonishing diversity. Oindrila Mukherjee has written a soulful novel that’ll break your heart with its truth.”
 
 
 
 
 THEDREAMBUILDERS
 A NOVEL
 OINDRILA MUKHERJEE
 
 
 
 for my parents
 
 
 Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand:
 Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!
 —“SECOND FIG,” EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, A Few Figs from Thistles
 
 
 CONTENTS
 Summer 2018
 Maneka
 Ramona
 Pinky
 Samiran
 Chaya
 Jessica
 Ashok
 Rajesh
 Gopal
 Salil
 Hrishipur
 Maneka
 Acknowledgments
 Reader’s Guide
 
 
 THE
 DREAM
 BUILDERS
 
 
 SUMMER 2018
 
 
 FROM THE SKY, THE BUILDINGS OF HRISHIPUR LOOK smaller and smaller, shrinking into shadows of themselves. Some corners of the city flicker with lights like stars fallen from heaven. Others lie in darkness, pools of quiet amid the surrounding noise. From up here, the city is a stranger, remote and foreign, not unlike herself a few months ago. The distinct 
 MANEKA
 
 THE INVITATION ARRIVED IN HER INBOX JUST HOURS after her own arrival in Hrishipur. She was lying in bed, bruised from the long flight and slightly stunned by this return to a country she no longer recognized, a home without her mother, and the prospect of an endless summer, when the cell phone next to her lit up