A VILLAGE UNDER THE STREETLIGHT

This rich, first novel by Thomas Palayoor takes place over the course of several generations, during which the world and the village in the title change cataclysmically. These changes are, however, cumulative. They emanate from a small set of characters who make their appearance early on. Identified and characterized by custom of the day, this handful of villagers and their neighbors--who appear at first glance to occupy recognizable types--move inexorably (if not in unison) toward the complexities and contradictions of modernity. Yet, an unthinkable, stumbled upon phenomenon at the Streetlight almost immediately signals the onslaught of the new. This one event importunes a whole array of changes; many are at first gradual, involving accommodation but not really challenging the village fabric. For a time, changes are mentioned by the narrator almost in asides. Despite this, small offshoots come to portend a trend. Moreover, not infrequently as the novel moves in a forward direction, a seemingly large number of aberrant instances from the past are, likewise revealed. As readers, we find ourselves in the company of characters only vaguely aware, from their small perch, of the departure of the colonizing British, and of the forces of change and conflict larger than any one village—grand collisions of philosophies, religions, ethnicities, and ambitions. - Dr. Harte Weiner, Ph.D. (Stanford)

Paperback: 264 pages
Publishing date: December 1, 2018
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1949180395
ISBN-13: 978-1949180398
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches

Thomas Palayoor is a molecular geneticist by training. Before moving to the US, he was active in cancer research in India. In the United States he has worked at the medical schools of Ohio State and Yale universities.

He has received awards in radio play competition and radio play writing. He has published short stories in the Indian language, Malayalam. He has an active interest in painting. His works are mostly abstractions in oil. He has held a one-man exhibition of his graphics in Belgium, a commercial success. He continues to follow his passion to write and paint alternatively. “A Village Under the Streetlight” is his first novel. He lives with his wife in the Boston area.