Gaynar Baksa by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay [Hardcover]

"Somalata was married into a declining aristocratic family. They have the façade, but no substance. They have a penchant for grandiloquent speech and love to tell stories about their ancestral estate whenever they get the chance—a habit known as 'barfatthai.' Somalata's husband has a B.A. degree, yet he does nothing but play the tabla. Somalata’s joint family survives by selling the household gold and land. In this house, a tyrannical aunt-in-law occupies three rooms on the third floor. This widow is the absolute ruler of the household. It was this aunt-in-law who called Somalata to her before her death and entrusted her with a box containing one hundred vorries of gold jewelry. Was it before death or after? Somalata could never quite understand. However, there’s no doubt that the aunt-in-law has appeared to her repeatedly since then. Yet, this fantastic novel by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay is by no means a ghost story. The incident of the jewelry box, laden with metaphorical significance, is revealed in a curious and profound manner in the very last lines of this novel."