ublished in 2016, Tejaswini Apte-Rahm’s These Circuses That Sweep Through the Landscape is an accomplished collection of short stories that capture the intricacies of human experiences and emotions. In one of her stories, titled Thank God for Star Trek, the author begins with an intriguing description of Bombay as a “cone-shaped city”. Apte-Rahm subsequently likens the urban metropolis to a “gulping creature” where “processions of things and beings” jostle for space and citizens grapple with “a mulch of heat, perspiration… headaches… [and] depression”.

Bombay also serves as the backdrop to the author’s new novel, The Secret of More. However, Apte-Rahm doesn’t derive her inspiration from the city’s contemporary realities. Instead, she turns the clock back to the Bombay of yore and fashions a narrative that depicts the forgotten flavours and cadences of one of India’s prominent mega-cities. Set in the 1900s, The Secret of More transports readers to the colonial era when the metropolis wasn’t as congested and chaotic as it is today. Nevertheless, the city attracted people from the rural hinterlands searching for opportunities. Since time immemorial, Bombay’s alchemy and spirited magnetism have opened doors for those who are willing to sacrifice time and effort to realise their dreams. Tatya, the beating heart of Apte-Rahm’s novel, is among those who yield to Bombay’s transformative effect. He enters the city’s hallowed grounds at the turn of the 20th Century and takes on an apprenticeship with a cloth seller in Mulji Jetha Market, the “largest cloth trading market on the continent”. His assiduity and business acumen catapult his career to new heights, and Tatya eventually cultivates an enviable reputation in Bombay’s textile industry. As the years go by, Tatya treads the tightrope between his demanding professional responsibilities and familial priorities while remaining mindful of his desire to expand his horizons. Tatya’s quest to broaden the scope of his business leads him into the electrifying world of motion pictures that leads him to unveil new truths about himself and the city he now calls home.

Any effort to underscore the plot of The Secret of More in further detail stands the danger of revealing too much. A spoiler-filled synopsis of the novel will only impede readers’ ability to discover for themselves the people, places and circumstances that emerge in Apte-Rahm’s novel. Be that as it may, some readers might be sceptical of diving deep into yet another rags-to-riches story where a family makes the inevitable transition from a chawl to a mansion. Tatya’s story doesn’t carry the predictable hues that readers often find in a stereotypical rags-to-riches story. The author neither portrays her protagonist as a paragon nor allows readers to perceive him as among the fortunate few who court one triumph after another at a dizzying pace. Tatya’s failures and missteps are delineated without any inhibitions, and he emerges as a flawed yet complex character rather than a revered patriarch who can do no wrong. His ambition often comes at a steep personal cost, and Apte-Rahm doesn’t shy away from exposing the sheer gravity of the consequences he must endure to attain success.

The Secret of More falls neatly within the category of historical fiction. Conventional wisdom dictates that writers of historical fiction must bear the burden of recreating the times with precision. Apte-Rahm’s novel is interspersed with thought-provoking references that evoke India’s colonial era in telling detail. The author seems to have conducted painstaking research to capture the subtleties of the public and private spheres in a now-forgotten fragment of India’s past. She has outlined the key facets of women’s lives in the 19th and 20th centuries with considerable authenticity. The novel is also sprinkled with knowledgeable reflections about Bombay’s textile market – a nod to the meticulous attention Apte-Rahm has paid toward creating an accurate depiction of the past. Key historical events in India’s colonial history have also been delineated in vivid detail. As a result, George V and Queen Mary’s royal visit and other major events of the 1900s aren’t presented through the detached lens of a historian but through a keen eye for observation that only a skilled novelist can possess. The insights and observations on the technicalities of silent films are also quite informative and compelling.

Memory is a vital theme of the novel and informs its structure. A brief prologue introduces an aged Tatya grieving over the loss of a woman with whom he had spent decades. Subsequent chapters delve into Tatya’s past and take readers through the early years of his struggle. The narrative follows a linear trajectory until the author decides to shift gears and unexpectedly flash the story forward. This technique doesn’t come across as jarring. Instead, it serves as a welcome reminder for the reader that The Secret of More mirrors the nature of our drifting memories.

Reading Apte-Rahm’s novel is tantamount to roving down a slow-moving river. Page after iridescent page, readers may find themselves entranced by a specific moment or situation rather than obsessing over where the journey will take them. The rich, pristine prose makes the journey all the more memorable, and the denouement is far from disappointing.

A stunning evocation of India’s colonial past, The Secret of More is in equal parts the story of a city where dreams come true and the sacrifices people render to turn these dreams into reality.

Book: The Secret of More

Author: Tejaswini Apte Rahm

Publisher: Aleph Book Company, 2022

Pages: Hardback, 462

The reviewer is a freelance journalist and the author of Typically Tanya