The Complex by Karan Mahajan: A Family Saga Set in Delhi

Karan Mahajan's new novel, The Complex, opens with the murder of Laxman, the patriarch of the Chopra family, described in the book as shifty, crude and charismatic.

The story then jumps forward twenty-five years, as Laxman's nephew Brij, who served time in prison for the killing, is about to be released. While some relatives feel Brij should not return to the family home, his son Mohit decides the two will live together, prompting the narrative to trace the decades leading up to the crime.

The novel is Mahajan's third, following Family Planning and The Association of Small Bombs, which explored individual lives set against larger social and political forces such as urban development and the aftermath of a car bombing.

The Complex centers on Delhi but also moves between Indian villages and cities, the American Midwest and London, told through short chapters that shift among different members of the Chopra family. Its themes include politics, faith, migration, infidelity and entrepreneurship.