Review of The Others by Sheena Kalayil
East Germany, 1989. Why are some people desperate to leave while others are determined to stay? And how love can tie your hands.
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Lolita, an Indian medical student from a family of staunch communists, is admired from afar by two young men. Armando, a contract worker from Mozambique, dreamy and slow to act. And Theo, son of East German radicals, impatient and determined to succeed as a writer.
A gruesome discovery binds Lolita and Armando but draws the attention of the Stasi. Armando is terrified of losing contact with his young daughter, conceived in a brief affair with a German journalist.
Meanwhile, the grip of the DDR government is loosening. What will this mean for Lolita, Armando and Theo’s future?
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Some may not consider 1989 as history. But the sense of being trapped within your nation’s borders and monitored for signs of disloyalty seems alien to most modern Europeans. Armando has escaped one war-torn country but fears being watched and losing his livelihood and loved ones. Even Theo has had his career curtailed by standing up to the authorities.
Armando is driven by deep emotions: love for Clara, his daughter, and passion for Lolita. But he is reluctant to take action, in part due to his precarious position in the country.
Theo is confident in his place in German society and pursues Lolita relentlessly, until he is faced with a stark choice between his desire for her and his ambition for himself.
Lolita is an enigma, her beauty attracting male attention, while she remains cool and detached, keeping both Armando and Theo - and the reader - guessing about her true affections.
The Others is primarily about its central love triangle – with deep introspection from all three protagonists, and detailed analysis of their assignations in a nondescript Baltic coastal town.
But the unravelling of society and crumbling of repressive institutions as the wall that divided Germany becomes porous affects not only our central trio, but also the wider cast. The mother of Armando’s child who is targeted for her journalism. Theo’s grandfather and longtime socialist. The manager of the factory staffed by contract workers who become targets of racial abuse. The senior medics from the hospital who start disappearing to the West. All find their world upended.
I found Armando’s story the most heart-rending – tied to a country that considers you a second-class citizen by a child still in kindergarten. In 1989, I watched the joyful dismantling of the Berlin wall on television. Yet behind that celebration lie more complex realities – this novel shines a light into those darker corners.
Longlisted for the Women’s prize
Published by Fly on the Wall
Author Sheena Kalayil
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