A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness: Stories -- Jai Chakrabarti - Hardcover

"Beautiful, thought-provoking [stories] about the costs of wanting children" (Kirkus Reviews), from the National Jewish Book Award-winning author of A Play for the End of the World ("an impressive debut" --Meg Wolitzer)"

"Whether in Brooklyn, Kolkata, upstate New York or elsewhere, these characters captured my heart and endure in my memory like loved ones." --Mia Alvar, author of In the Country

In the fourteen masterful stories that make up this collection, Jai Chakrabarti crosses continents and cultures to explore what it means to cultivate a family today, across borders, religions, and race.

In the title story, a closeted gay man in 1980s Kolkata seeks to have a child with his lover's wife. An Indian widow, engaged to a Jewish man, struggles to balance her cultural identity with the rituals and traditions of her newfound family. An American musician travels to see his guru for the final time--and makes a promise he cannot keep. A young woman from an Indian village arrives in Brooklyn to care for the toddler of a biracial couple. And a mystical agent is sent by a mother to solve her son's domestic problems.

Throughout, the characters' most vulnerable desires shape life-altering decisions as they seek to balance their needs against those of the people they hold closest. The stories in A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness capture men and women struggling with transformation and familial bonds; they traverse the intersections of countries and cultures to illuminate what it means to love in uncertain times; and they showcase the skill of a storyteller who dazzles with the breadth of his vision.

Author: Jai Chakrabarti
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 02/21/2023
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.01lbs
Size: 8.51h x 6.09w x 1.27d
ISBN: 9780525658948

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/01/2022 pg. 2
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2023
Publishers Weekly 01/02/2023
Booklist 02/01/2023 pg. 19