Renu Kurien Balakrishnan at the launch of her book in Mumbai

Four Aleys, a novel by Bombay-based author Renu Kurien Balakrishnan, which debuted at the IAAC Literary festival in New York a fortnight ago, was launched last weekend at St. Xavier’s College. The story, about four women, all called Aley, flashes back through the eyes of the youngest, Little Aley, a carefree child of a doting family. But the old order changes and disintegrates as there are revolts.
It is a story of obsessive love and familial loyalties set against a background of social upheaval. The women in the feudal, patriarchal, landowning family of Big House deal with their complicated lives as best as they can and Little Aley, the youngest of the four, tries to make sense of the lives of her hapless namesakes. She vows never to fall victim to the emotions which had tortured her mother, grandmother and beloved grandaunt and is determined to set a balance in the social system, that after a violent upheaval, now fumbles to constructively reinvent itself. Attending the launch were writers Bernard Imhasley, Rashna Imhasley, Bubla Basu, Mohyna Srinivas, Suraksha Giri, Kiran Khalap, Ganesh Nadar, Sudha Shah and several others.