Karnali Blues, by Buddhisagar, is the most widely read Nepali novel to have appeared in the last twenty years.

As it recounts the evolution of a father-son relationship-a son’s search for approval, a father’s small acts of kindness and forgiveness, a son’s fears for his father’s dignity as his fortunes and faculties begin to fail-the reader is deeply drawn into young Brisha Bahadur’s world. His father is kind and idealistic; his mother, though she is kind too, is often frustrated and irascible.

The characters in this book are some of the most carefully drawn and authentic in all of Nepali literature. In a backwater district of a country about to undergo radical social, political and cultural change, Brisha’s dreams, his games and his mischief, his loves, his hopes and his fears come alive.

Translated from the Nepali by Michael Hutt, this highly original piece of work, with the simplicity of its language and its emotional range, holds the power to take your breath away. Its principal themes-the love between a son and his father, the joys and sorrows of childhood, the daily struggle for survival-are universal, and will resonate with readers the world over.