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No Other World: A Novel Hardcover – Deckle Edge, February 28, 2017

by Rahul Mehta (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 35 ratings
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From the author of the prize-winning collection Quarantine, an insightful, compelling debut novel set in rural America and India in the 1980s and ’90s, part coming-of-age story about a gay Indian American boy, part family saga about an immigrant family’s struggles to find a sense of belonging, identity, and hope.

In a rural community in Western New York, twelve-year-old Kiran Shah, the American-born son of Indian immigrants, longingly observes his prototypically American neighbors, the Bells. He attends school with Kelly Bell, but he’s powerfully drawn—in a way he does not yet understand—to her charismatic father, Chris.

Kiran’s yearnings echo his parents’ bewilderment as they try to adjust to a new world. His father, Nishit Shah, a successful doctor, is haunted by thoughts of the brother he left behind. His mother, Shanti, struggles to accept a life with a man she did not choose—her marriage to Nishit was arranged—and her growing attachment to an American man. Kiran is close to his older sister, Preeti—until an unexpected threat and an unfathomable betrayal drive a wedge between them that will reverberate through their lives.

As he leaves childhood behind, Kiran finds himself perpetually on the outside—as an Indian American torn between two cultures and as a gay man in a homophobic society. In the wake of an emotional breakdown, he travels to India, where he forms an intense bond with a teenage hijra, a member of India’s ancient transgender community. With her help, Kiran begins to pull together the pieces of his broken past.

Sweeping and emotionally complex, No Other World is a haunting meditation on love, belonging, and forgiveness that explores the line between our responsibilities to our families and to ourselves, the difficult choices we make, and the painful cost of claiming our true selves.

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  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper
  4. Publication date
    February 28, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.01 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0062020463
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0062020468
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Having moved halfway across the world, the Shahs contend with life in western New York in the 1980s and 1990s. A father, mother, brother, and sister all grapple with secrets and desires that draw them toward their American neighbors, while their Indian culture and the family they left behind maintain a hold on them. At the center of the family is Kiran, a young boy coming to terms with his sexuality. Told in third person, this is an intimate meditation on the occurrences that shape us as people and the immigrant experience in the United States. Tiny details—the print on a bedspread, the tassel on a pristine loafer—fully immerse readers in the Shahs' world. Mehta deftly draws each perspective, carefully laying bare the distance between the characters' desires and their actions. While this novel focuses on Kiran's growth, it also illuminates the points of view of his family members, ultimately providing a more complete picture of the protagonist's childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Though there is some explicit content, it is never prurient, and mature teenage readers will see it as simply a piece of the puzzle that is Kiran. VERDICT The meticulously detailed tale of one Indian family, this is at once a character study and a universal immigrant story. For fans of literary fiction.—Erinn Black Salge, Morristown-Beard School, Morristown, NJ

Review

“Like Tom Perrotta, Mehta digs into suburban angst and household secrets with insight and humor.… A family saga for the 21st century, No Other World journeys into daunting horizons to discover the familiar.” — Shelf Awareness

“No Other World is deeply satisfying, a novel so moving that I worried about its main characters for weeks after I finished reading it. Rahul Mehta is a writer with astonishing emotional subtlety and generosity; I loved this beautiful book.” — Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies

“What a compelling, magical, big-hearted, lyrical book. Rahul Mehta is an expansive and mesmerizing talent—he sees things generously, from all angles, and makes the reader care, and feel, deeply.” — George Saunders, author of Tenth of December

“No Other World is a tough and touching master class on being. Kiran’s life is a remarkable catalogue of the many brands of love, some painful, some nourishing, all of them necessary.” — Brian Leung, author of Take Me Home

“No Other World is a profound and engrossing family saga about the immigrant experience. Mehta is a confident, empathic storyteller, his rendering of brutal scenes of pain, lust and love on two continents is fearless but forgiving, and this is just his début novel. I impatiently await his next.” — Bharati Mukherjee, author of Jasmine

“Mehta uses vivid, memorable imagery to present likable, complex characters…and shimmering descriptions of emotionally resonant moments.” — Booklist (starred review)

“The power of No Other World is how inextricably bound to this world Mehta’s characters are, and yet how untethered and restless they inevitably feel…I want to catch all of Mehta’s precious metaphors and store them in my palms… Mehta’s artfulness is the deep empathy with which we nevertheless regard his characters, forced to live in small worlds they’re not fit for, worlds that cannot contain their complexities.” — Lambda Book Report

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper; First Edition (February 28, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062020463
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062020468
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.01 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 35 ratings

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Rahul Mehta

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
35 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book highly readable, with one describing it as a beautifully written coming-of-age account. The writing quality receives positive feedback, with one customer noting how the author skillfully guides the reader through the narrative.

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7 customers mention "Readability"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, with one describing it as a beautifully written coming-of-age account and another noting its honest depiction of life and love.

"...I really enjoyed and loved all of the detailed descriptions of American suburban life of the 80s, from the suburban mall to the acid-washed jeans,..." Read more

"Very readable and enjoyable book...." Read more

"This is a novel that encompasses so much--the story of the Shah family, emigrated from India and grown bigger in the U.S. It straddles the POV of so..." Read more

"This debut novel starts of promisingly enough with a heartfelt exploration of an Indian immigrant family experience and then takes a turn towards a..." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, with one noting how skillfully it guides the reader.

"...The prose here is beautifully clear--it casts a picture while guiding the reader easily over the shifting ground of POVs and situations, multiple..." Read more

"Mehta's first novel is an ambitious and masterful piece...." Read more

"Beautifully Written, Honest and Heartwarming..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Chili16
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written, Honest and Heartwarming
    Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    A beautifully written coming-of-age account of discovering one's self and identity in a suburban American town. It's an honest depiction of life and love, relationships with friends and family amidst inner struggles and family secrets. Mehta covers a lot of ground and strategically intertwines stories of struggle from relationships with friends, parents, siblings, cousins (including an interlude), and uncles, which leaves the reader wanting to read a few more pages and then another few more pages, despite the late hour, in hopes that Mehta comes back to finish the tale. I really enjoyed and loved all of the detailed descriptions of American suburban life of the 80s, from the suburban mall to the acid-washed jeans, shirts tied in knots, mix tapes and those awkward teenage years. I also loved the way he set up the book with the poem, "Within This Tree," at the front. Beautiful. I finished this book in two sittings and look forward to Mehta's next work.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Walker
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good first book.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Very readable and enjoyable book. The only drawback I found was that I felt the author occasionally waded a tad too far in the weeds with details that did not seem germane to moving the story forward. Mr. Mehta’s Family put a lot of food on the table for me many years ago when I worked in the our family pharmacy. His mother and father were always a bright spot in the day when they came through the door. The respect I have for him and his family is what made me buy the book initially. Definitely worth reading.
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  • Alysia Constantine
    5.0 out of 5 stars Generous, Great Big Beautiful Novel
    Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This is a novel that encompasses so much--the story of the Shah family, emigrated from India and grown bigger in the U.S. It straddles the POV of so many characters, so many oppositions, and so skillfully. In part, it is about a similarity between queer folks, immigrants to the US, 1st gen folks (and other on-the-outs folk, such as Hijra in India): how one redefines family, home. There is literal and figurative homelessness/rootlessness, there is trauma, there is secret pleasure. The prose here is beautifully clear--it casts a picture while guiding the reader easily over the shifting ground of POVs and situations, multiple characters, conflicting desires--all things which could, in lesser hands, become confusing. Highly recommend this novel. More specifics in my full review at alysiaconstantinedotcom.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Journey, Grand and Ambitious in Scope
    Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I really enjoyed No Other World, Rahul Mehta’s book about the immigrant experience. The book is more than just a rehash of say, Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, and in many ways is more ambitious in scope. It takes us on a journey both chronologically and geographically to little known worlds that came to life for me. The parts of the book that take us into two of those worlds, immigrant life in a stark, rural area of the U.S. and a fascinating look into the Hijra culture of India were especially emotionally resonant.

    Mehta writes with a wonderful eye for the unnoticed details and ironies in life that will have you nodding and smiling. A restaurant server’s dance between providing attention and privacy, windows tucked high against eaves like tired eyes, our safety obsessed society when seen through the lens of another culture that cannot afford that luxury. Impressive debut and looking forward to the next novel.
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  • Rajesh Balkrishnan
    3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag
    Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This debut novel starts of promisingly enough with a heartfelt exploration of an Indian immigrant family experience and then takes a turn towards a rushed and very predictable "back to roots" ending that is very unsatisfying. It is a quick diverting read though and never boring.
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  • Anne C. Coon
    5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    There is something truly haunting about No Other World. It speaks to us, —often quietly, sometimes in sobs, sometimes in giggles—touching our deepest common humanity. The boy Kiran is a sweet innocent whose pretend cat games and confusion at the adults in his life will forever stay in our memories. Older, he struggles, suffers, and, ultimately, learns the importance of having been given another chance. “He was going to do it all right this time. He wasn’t going to sit anything out.” Through Kiran’s triumph, his survival after a horrifying attack, we, too, feel a sense of triumph and reclaimed wholeness. Rahul Mehta’s No Other World is a beautifully written affirmation of the love and vulnerability that bind us to one another.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Sascot
    3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
    Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    It was the subject that inspired me to buy this but reading it did not. It jumps all over the place. Billed as a story about an Indian immigrant boy who grows up in the USA, I found there were far too many side stories that deflected from any depth on any of them achieving any real meaning. It jumps around between New York State and India, the time lines confusing and blurred.
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  • Leyna B
    5.0 out of 5 stars Poetic, Chilling, Exhilarating
    Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Mehta's first novel is an ambitious and masterful piece. No Other World takes on major topics such as homosexuality, racism, adultery, rape, family dynamics, and coming of age, all while balancing a careful and succinct story. I can't wait to read more from such a fantastic writer.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • bookgirl_sulagna
    4.0 out of 5 stars Loved reading this one
    Reviewed in India on July 15, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    No Other World traces the story of Kiran, a second generation gay Indian-American. Kiran growing up in a homophobic society, to exploring his sexuality, his dynamics with his family and him hitting his teenage angst, the story aptly mirrors the life of a millennial. We get to see how Kiran's life transforms and he evolves into the person he is due to a series of events. His Indian-born immigrant parents, his sister's tragedy, his mother's affair with their neighbour and him exploring his sexuality through someone else's sexual abuse, a broken paternal uncle, the homophobia he faces, everything shapes up Kiran.

    I loved how the author shows Kiran's development through the incidents occurring in the lives of people who'd ultimately shape Kiran. In a way the book not only focuses on Kiran, but also the people around him, thus creating multiple character sketches and multiple story arcs that are in their own way either devastating or fulfilling.
    Customer image
    bookgirl_sulagna
    4.0 out of 5 stars
    Loved reading this one

    Reviewed in India on July 15, 2019
    No Other World traces the story of Kiran, a second generation gay Indian-American. Kiran growing up in a homophobic society, to exploring his sexuality, his dynamics with his family and him hitting his teenage angst, the story aptly mirrors the life of a millennial. We get to see how Kiran's life transforms and he evolves into the person he is due to a series of events. His Indian-born immigrant parents, his sister's tragedy, his mother's affair with their neighbour and him exploring his sexuality through someone else's sexual abuse, a broken paternal uncle, the homophobia he faces, everything shapes up Kiran.

    I loved how the author shows Kiran's development through the incidents occurring in the lives of people who'd ultimately shape Kiran. In a way the book not only focuses on Kiran, but also the people around him, thus creating multiple character sketches and multiple story arcs that are in their own way either devastating or fulfilling.
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  • Client d'Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
    Reviewed in France on May 12, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    It's refreshing to see an expat narrative a little left of center. Very descriptive, well defined characters, enjoyable read all in all.
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