Everything Here Belongs to You

“Roychowdhury, a Pushcart Prize nominee, is a masterful storyteller and a keen observer of character, culture, and politics. … EVERYTHING HERE BELONGS TO YOU succeeds beautifully at telling an intimate and deeply felt story of a troubled connection between two young women, set against a larger narrative of ideological conflict.” --Edward Sung for IndieReader Parul and Mohini come of age in 1990s Kolkata, a world beset by political upheaval and changing cultural traditions. They grow up under the same roof, but Parul is a servant and Mohini is a daughter of privilege. Parul is only six when her father brings her to live with the Sens, a middle-class Hindu family. The Sens ask Parul to hide her Muslim identity and train her to do household chores. By contrast, Mohini, the Sens' daughter, grows up leading a life of privilege and education and becomes a skilled weightlifter in her father’s Olympic training gym. Parul and Mohini become close, but they struggle to define their relationship. The privileges given to Mohini but denied to Parul present a stark barrier and Parul becomes increasingly resentful. As she secretly attempts to find a place within Kolkata’s Muslim community, she begins an affair with Rahim, a political militant. Parul must decide where her loyalties lie when Rahim asks her to betray the Sens and endanger a young weightlifter visiting from America who has become Mohini’s boyfriend. Parul's choice will shock the family and determine everyone's future.