Atanur Suyopoka by Agradoot Ghatak [Hardcover]

"This novel spans six years of Atanu's life. After being expelled from school in Class Four, Atanu Chatterjee, the only child of his parents, begins his solitary life in their ancestral mansion by the banks of the Rupnarayan River, near Kolkata.

Although a massive library becomes his companion in solitude, one by one, various characters enter his life: the literature-loving and romantic girl Swapna, the orphan boy Ghana, his Vaishnavite grandmother Devyani Devi, his Communist-minded uncle Mohan and Mohan's deceased lover Shrabani, along with a bird named Baikal that flew in from the Himalayas.

As the thoughtful and imaginative Atanu navigates the pressures of his ambitious parents' discipline and academic expectations, he uncovers the dark pasts of all his family members, hidden beneath their outward morality. He finds an unbalanced present lurking within their seemingly simple social lives.

Through unraveling these mysteries, Atanu discovers a new philosophy of life, a different identity, and an extraordinary sense of freedom."