The Dream Builders, Oindrila Mukherjee
The Dream Builders, Oindrila Mukherjee
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The Dream Builders
A Novel

Author: Oindrila Mukherjee

Narrator: Soneela Nankani

Unabridged: 13 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/10/2023

Synopsis

After living in the United States for years, Maneka Roy returns home to India to mourn the loss of her mother and finds herself in a new world.The booming city of Hrishipur where her father now lives is nothing like the part of the country where she grew up, and the more she sees of this new, sparkling city, the more she learns that nothing―and no one―here is as it appears. Ultimately, it will take an unexpected tragic event for Maneka and those around her to finally understand just how fragile life is in this city built on aspirations.Written from the perspectives of ten different characters, Oindrila Mukherjee’s incisive debut novel explores class divisions, gender roles, and stories of survival within a society that is constantly changing and becoming increasingly Americanized.It is a story about India today and people impacted by globalization everywhere: a tale of ambition, longing, and bitter loss that asks what it really costs to try and build a dream.

About Oindrila Mukherjee

Oindrila Mukherjee grew up in Kolkata, India, and now resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she teaches creative writing at Grand Valley State University.

About Soneela Nankani

Soneela Nankani is an award-winning narrator with over three hundred titles in many different genres including Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, and Nonfiction. She has garnered sixteen Earphones Awards, nominations for Audie and SOVAS awards, and was recently awarded AudioFile magazine’s Golden Voice Lifetime Achievement Honor. Her audiobooks have been featured in Best Audiobooks lists by AudioFile magazine and the Washington Post, among others. In her spare time, she loves to read (yes, really), learn languages, try new recipes, and travel. She lives in the DC area with her husband and two mischievous daughters.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Suz

This was a very different read for me. Contemporary India, a story told from 10 characters with strong themes of class, development with a western feel, poverty and a lot of discussion about high rise development called the Trump Towers. So much aspiration for the wealthy to keep up with society to......more

Goodreads review by Emily

A sharp debut about the quickly changing economic and political environment of contemporary India. From a wide array of perspectives in the rapidly industrial city of Hrisipur, we see the long-lasting effects of wealth and class disparities, gender roles, and the ramifications of an ultra-consumeris......more

Goodreads review by Sahitya

More of a 3.5 but maybe I can round up. This book turned out to be nothing like I expected but I also didn’t go in with too many ideas about it. I was also excited to listen to the audiobook because Soneela is one of my favorite narrators. I found it quite easy to get into the headspace of Menaka -......more

Quotes

“Soneela Nankani is a strong narrator…in how she captures the wide range of characters…Nankani evokes interest and sympathy for the characters in this sprawling novel…A luxurious listening experience.” AudioFile

“Reminds me of a Robert Altman film…You’ll want more of every single character." Good Morning America

“A winning tale…with sensitivity, beauty and depth…that derives its heat and heart from its characters’ humanity.” Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Sweeping.” Foreword Reviews (starred review)

“Kaleidoscopic.” BookPage

“The author does a great job capturing the setting and exploring the fateful power dynamics. On balance, it’s a penetrating look at the fast-growing country’s shaky façade.” Publishers Weekly

“Funny, moving, and often deliciously cynical.” Tiphanie Yanique, author of Monster in the Middle

“An astonishing, and astonishingly accurate, portrait of contemporary India.” Chitra Divakaruni, author of The Mistress of Spices

“An impressive feat of storytelling, a novel that examines the constraints of class, of gender, of history.” Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author

“A novel of epic proportions…[with] characters who are often real enough to remind us of ourselves, even as they betray one another, even as they betray themselves.” Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize–winning author

Awards

  • Good Morning America Selection
  • PureWow Pick
  • Indie Next List
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