Indian American Makes Debut With Stories On Relationships And Identity
India-West Staff Reporter
The Confines: Stories by Anu Kandikuppa, Veliz Books, March 2025
Anu Kandikuppa’s debut collection, The Confines: Stories, is a masterful exploration of human relationships and societal expectations. The twelve stories in this collection, set in India and the U.S., delve into themes of longing, identity, and the unspoken constraints that shape lives. Kandikuppa’s precise and evocative prose brings to life characters who navigate cultural boundaries and emotional landscapes with both grace and raw vulnerability.
The narratives feature a wide range of characters: a doctor perplexed by the unwavering devotion of a wealthy couple to their indifferent son, a wife entangled in a forbidden attraction that forces her to reevaluate her marriage, an engineer in Bangalore quietly consumed by unspoken desire, and a widow in the U.S. grappling with displacement after the sudden loss of her husband. These stories, while unique in detail, share a common thread: the quest for happiness and the bittersweet acceptance of life’s imperfections.
Kandikuppa’s perspective as an immigrant and a woman raised in a conservative South Indian society enriches the collection. Her characters reflect the tension between tradition and modernity, duty and desire, and the struggle to reconcile personal aspirations with societal expectations. The immigrant experience, with its layers of dislocation and adaptation, adds further depth, creating a tapestry of lives caught between worlds.
Notably, Kandikuppa’s transition from careers in engineering, software development, and economic consulting to full-time writing in her forties imbues her work with a maturity and insight rarely found in debut collections. Her prose is sharp yet empathetic, offering glimpses into the hearts of her characters while challenging readers to reflect on their own lives.
The stories in The Confines are elegant and poignant, showcasing Kandikuppa’s ability to distill complex emotions into powerful vignettes. This collection is a remarkable debut that establishes her as a writer of significant talent, one who understands the intricacies of human relationships and the quiet struggles of everyday life.
Whether you’re drawn to stories of cultural duality, introspective character studies, or beautifully crafted prose, The Confines is a collection that will linger in your mind long after you turn the final page.
