I wanted to like this book more than I did, but I felt like there was too much going on for me to become involved in any one character. The book is the story of a family holding onto the past and trying to make sense of what's happening to them and to their nation. With so many characters who all have a different response to what's happening, it's somewhat confusing as to what viewpoint we're supposed to identify with.
There are also a lot of themes at play here - racism, colonialism, family struggles, the relationships between generations, traditionalism vs. modernism, and a large group of people attempting to make sense of the world in the midst of incredible changes of a magnitude that far exceeds their ability to cope.
In some cases, this plays out almost ironically. When Daniel Dorai decides to return home to Chevathar and reboot the family farming colony, he finances the endeavor with earnings from his skin whitening cream. He knows how to be a modern chemist, but he doesn't know how to run a farming colony. He longs for the past, but knows more about surviving in the present and future. He is a man trapped in an awkward time.
There is also the element of reading a book about colonized people from the perspective of a member of a colonizing culture. It's good to get this perspective, but I think it can impede understanding of the work. There is perhaps a depth of experience that is necessary to understand a work of fiction. It's like looking through a window - I see what's happening, but I don't fully understand the context. I wish I knew more about the historical setting surrounding the British colonization of India as well as Gandhi's rebellion against the colonization. Now I want to read about Gandhi, but who knows when I'll have the time.
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